Fonder
by BittersweetPoet
Summary: The practice is a disaster because of all the unresolved tension amongst the doctors, especially between Mindy and Danny. What happens when the two are forced to confront their issues on a team building retreat? Longer (and better) synopsis inside!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Sooo this is my first Mindy Project fic! I usually give long intros in my author's notes but I want to jump right into the story. Before that, however, here's a longer summary for this fic (I seriously suck at summaries ha):

_The practice is a disaster due to the immense amount of unresolved tension amongst the doctors. Jeremy's secretly jealous of Peter, Peter is simply unaware of how offensive he can be, and Danny and Mindy… well, no one knows why they're angry at each other, but it's running off the patients and having a negative impact on the practice. What happens when Mindy and Danny are forced to confront their problems with each other on a team building retreat? Will it be the end of their partnership, or the beginning of something more?_

* * *

**Fonder**

**Chapter One**

**Mondays Suck**

* * *

Mindy's POV

I slammed my hand on the ringing alarm clock as a muffled groan escaped my mouth into a satin pillow. It was 6:00 in the morning, and it was Monday.

I hated Mondays.

With an unladylike grunt, I forced myself out of the bed and towards the bathroom, where I knew a long, hot shower would be exactly what I needed to get me ready for the even longer day that was ahead of me.

Since I had returned from Haiti prematurely and without much explanation, the office was the worst place to be. Before I had left and seen how much help the people and the community needed, I probably would've said the office was more of a disaster than the third world country—but I knew better than that now. I had actually grown during the six months I was away, and was far more appreciative of the small things that were considered luxurious in Haiti.

So… I'd say the office was the _second_ worst place ever. Come on, I had grown, not become a totally different person.

See, for some reason everyone at the practice was pissed at each other. Morgan and Tamra weren't speaking over some random drama that I didn't actually care about, Jeremy was mad at Peter over daddy issues while Peter cluelessly went on being his usual bro-ish self. And Danny and I… well, I didn't know what the hell was going on between Danny and me. The day I came back, he was the first person I wanted to see, the first person I wanted to gush all of my feelings to about my experiences in Haiti, and simply just the person I wanted to be around, but he had greeted me with a curt nod and gone about his day.

And had been going about his days ever since.

I had even tried to ask what his problem was, but he insisted that there was no problem, and that everything was exactly the way it was supposed to be, which left me confused and sad and angry because I wasn't crazy—okay, wasn't _that_ crazy—and knew something was going on! No one just abruptly stops talking to you without some sort of catalyst.

But since he wanted to play this game, I had decided to play along. That was two months ago, and now today was Monday, and I had to mentally prepare myself every Monday not to care that the guy who I thought was becoming some kind of dysfunctional best friend was on a totally different page than me…

Which is why I hate Mondays.

"Ouch," I said out loud, realizing how roughly I had been washing my hair. Whenever thoughts of Danny pushed through the wall I had progressively been building to protect my wounded pride, I ended up hurting myself somehow.

I shut the shower off with what was becoming my infamous grunt. "Damn you, Danny," I grumbled as I stepped out of the shower. But instead of stepping on the carpet, I stepped on the porcelain, tiled floor, slipping and crashing down on my butt.

I squeezed my eyes shut and released a long wail, feeling pathetic as I gripped my bare ass on the floor. "Fuck! I hate Mondays! And I hate Danny Castellano!"

* * *

"Dr. L! Oh my goodness, what happened? Are you okay?"

Everyone turned to stare at me after Betsy loudly exclaimed her concern as I attempted to subtly limp into the practice.

"Betsy, jeez, I'm fine. I just… took a little spill and hurt my, um, back… side. It's no big deal!" I said as I shuffled on by the front desk.

Betsy trailed after me. "Are you sure? Did you take any medicine? When my grandma gets backaches, she—"

I quickly turned so I was facing her. "No, Betsy, no. Stop right there. Me, your grandma, and meds should never be in the same sentence. Because I'm a young, hot doctor and your grandma… well, she's a grandma."

"But—"

"But nothing! Go back to your desk and answer the phone and," I leaned closer and mumbled, "write down what your grandma uses. Email it to me." I cleared my throat and hurriedly shuffled into my office.

I slammed the door behind me, my mood crankier than it was before I busted my ass, which I didn't even really do because I did have a bit of cushion back there, but knowing that the fall wasn't as painful because my ass acted as a pillow made me even crankier! I didn't _want_ that cushion!

"Mindy."

Danny opened my door without bothering to knock, which led to him seeing me massaging my ass like some kind of creeper. He averted his eyes to whatever was in his hands, "Uh, okay…"

I was livid. Why? Because Danny _had_ to walk in on me rubbing my ass which was too huge for my comfort on a Monday, the _worst _day of the week, which never would have happened if I hadn't been thinking about him!

This was all his fault!

"Gosh, Danny! Knock much? C—can I not have any privacy in my own freaking office? Is that too much to ask?" I yelled, my voice getting louder with each word.

He stepped forward, pointing his papers at me. "Hey, don't you start screaming at me because I caught you rubbing your ass for God knows what! It's not my fault you're in whatever crap mood you're in!"

I folded my arms over my chest. "Really? It's not?" I said sarcastically.

"No, it's not! How the hell could it even be my fault?"

I wanted to yell that since I'd come back he'd been a total jerk to me, but I couldn't even say that because he hadn't technically done anything… at all. He hadn't insulted me, hadn't complimented me, had barely even said hello. It was like he didn't care.

I suddenly let out a defeated sigh and plopped in my chair. "Why are you here Danny? What do you want?"

He narrowed his eyes, observing me closely, and for a second I thought he'd ask what was bothering me, but instead he shook his head and answered, "We have a guest. He'd like to meet with all of the partners."

I sat up straighter in my seat. "Who?"

* * *

"Dr. Shulman, with all due respect, you're being absolutely ridiculous." Danny spoke, and it was the first thing in a while I agreed with him about. He, Jeremy, Peter and I sat in Jeremy's office across from Dr. Shulman, who none of us had seen or heard from since he left the country to travel the Caribbean.

"Yes, Dr. Shulman, I've been running this practice since you left, and it is ours now, not yours. You can't come in here making demands after you've relinquished all such rights," Jeremy chimed in, hands folded over his large belly.

Our old boss smiled at us. "That, my friends, is where you're wrong. I still have all of those rights because I never completely relinquished all of my control of the practice." He handed us each large, laminated booklets. "If you turn to section 5.9 of your contract, that I assume none of you completely read—"

"My lawyer handled that," I interrupted.

"—then you'd see that after two years, if this practice isn't thriving the way it was when I left, and the numbers aren't higher or don't match those that were in place before I left, then I have the power to return and make necessary changes."

"Are you out of your bloody mind?" Jeremy yelled.

"No, Jeremy, I'm not. Now calm down and have a seat before you have a heart attack. I have no intention of staying. I just want to help get you all back on track because what I'm seeing isn't good at all. You've lost a third of your clientele, and though financially you're okay, that will change abruptly when the backup fund you've been using continues to diminish. I just don't understand it! Jeremy, your business plan is outstanding, but in the past several months, your patients have dropped and I see no signs of recruitment. Where have your minds been? Because you're all good doctors, I've heard great things about you Peter from the nurses, so it can only mean that there's something wrong with the four of you. So answer me, why aren't you all getting along?"

"What?" We all said simultaneously.

"Let's not play dumb. I basically raised you… as doctors. You're like my OB/GYN kids. And I know you. So why aren't you all getting along?"

"I have zero problems with any of these guys. They're the ones always acting stressed." Peter spoke up quickly.

"Ugh will you ever be capable of shutting your trap for even a second?" Jeremy blurted.

"Gosh, Jeremy. Harsh much," I said with wide eyes. I wanted to turn to Danny and share a look but I knew it would be pointless. Knowing I couldn't put me back in my cranky mood. I crossed my arms over my chest, accidentally elbowing Danny.

"Mindy, be a little more conscious of your movements, please. You almost knocked my arm off." Except he didn't say so rudely or with any emotion. It was a calm statement, which only pissed me off.

"Right, because my elbow can literally knock your arm off. Okay Danny."

"It's a figure of speech. And, ya know, judging from the size of that _wing_, maybe you could've. Who's to say!"

My mouth dropped. Did he really just say that? "Did you really just say that?" But it came out less sassy and more genuinely hurt, which was the exact opposite of how I wanted him to know I felt.

I turned back to Shulman as Danny opened his mouth to speak, only then noticing that Peter and Jeremy were in a similar back and forth argument with each other.

"HEY!" Dr. Shulman shouted. "Are you all kidding me right now? Is this what happens everyday?"

"No, usually it's just silence," Peter answered. "Patients feel _super_ uncomfortable here. They say it's a stressful environment and leave… huh, which probably explains the drop in numbers, Doc."

"Thank you, Peter. I'm glad to see you're communicating, unlike the three doctors who I passed this practice onto," Dr. Shulman let out a disappointed sigh while plopping back down in Jeremy's chair. He suddenly perked up. "You know, I have a great idea. You four are going on a week-long retreat to bond and work on team building."

"No," Danny said monotonously.

I leaned forward. "I _communicate_ Danny's same sentiment. No!"

"But yes. You're all going."

"Sir," Jeremy spoke, "I can't let that happen. I'm in charge of the practice, I need to be here. Uh, they can go, but I'll have to stay."

"Throw us under the bus, I see," I grumbled audibly.

"No, Jeremy's absolutely right. All of you can't go. So… well, since Jeremy is needed here, you and Peter will stay and take relationship building classes in New York to resolve your issues, but Mindy and Danny? You two are going to Gatlinburg, Tennessee." He typed some words on the computer then turned the screen towards us. "The program's called Building a Better Business Relationship. It's for a week. I went a few years ago with an old partner. It really helped! And now, you two are going."

"What? No way! I have patients that need me!" Danny said, standing abruptly.

I stood too, but instead of yelling, I walked around the desk and placed a hand on Dr. Shulman's shoulder. "Listen, Dr. Shulman. Erika Gilbert, a ridiculously sweet, sensitive woman, is having _triplets_ and she needs me not only as her doctor… but as her friend and pillar to lean on. Don't you see I'm all she has?"

"Oh! Erika will be fine!" Peter chimed in. "We had din din last night—she'd love to have me as her doctor… She kind of said it herself."

I turned to him with gasp. "What the hell Peter! Are you trying to steal my patient?"

He laughed cluelessly. "Actually, I think she's trying to start an affair with me. Blame her hormones, but Erika G wants the D… from me." When none of us joined in his laughter he said, "The D… as in dic—"

"STOP!" We all shouted, mumbling our various distastes in his inappropriateness. He was worse than Morgan. Okay, he wasn't, but he wasn't far behind.

"Alright, I'm putting my foot down," Dr. Shulman said. "Jeremy and Peter, I'll meet with you later to discuss the alternative to going on the retreat. You two get back to work."

"But this is my office," Jeremy began but was shoo'd out by Peter.

Shulman turned to us after Peter shut the door. "Danny and Mindy, there is obviously something wrong with you two. I don't know what happened, but maybe if we can try to resolve it here right now, you won't have to go on the retreat. So tell me, what's the problem?"

I quietly took a seat, waiting for Danny to speak up and possibly admit there was something wrong.

He folded his arms over his chest. "Shulman, I don't know what you're talking about. I have no problem with this woman. Really, nothing has changed since you left."

"Are you saying you two are on the same terms as when I left? Y-you're still fighting constantly and acting like children in the workplace?"

"No. We don't fight," I answered, my voice softer than I intended. "We just don't speak because… we just don't. Some people aren't meant to be friends, so… we're just cordial, if that. A-and forcing us to go on a retreat won't do any good if two people aren't meant to be friends."

There was a short, tense silence after my statement where I stared down at my shoes, Danny shifted in his seat, and Dr. Shulman stared at us with narrowed eyes. He finally leaned back in his chair and sighed. "I honestly expected more from you two. I know initially you didn't get along, but I suspected a great friendship would bloom. But regardless of my expectations, what's really important here is that you're able to work and communicate with each other, or else you're putting this practice and your careers at risk. SO… you're going on the retreat. Your flight will leave in the morning and Jeremy and Peter will take over your patients for the week. Handle anything you need at the practice today. I don't want to see you two until next week."

"An entire week? Really Marc? Is that even necessary?" Danny asked in exasperation.

Typically I would have joined in, because complaining is one of my favorite pastimes, but I was exhausted. I hated that Danny seemed so upset to have to spend time with me. Hell, the retreat sounded like a vacation, and it was in the mountains—probably the wilderness! That seemed perfect for Danny, who respected all things nature! Why was he so reluctant to go?

I didn't want to think about it because I knew that could result in me busting my ass again or physically getting hurt someway. Instead I stood, dusting invisible lent off the front of my skirt. "Well, what do I need to pack? I still have my tent from Haiti."

He laughed. "That won't be necessary, Mindy. The cabins are quite nice in Gatlinburg! Electricity and everything. Even a hot tub. So just bring boots, warmish clothes, and you'll be fine. It's fall! The Smokies are beautiful this time of year."

"Wow, I'm kind of excited now, even though you can't see it on my face or hear it in my voice… Anyway, it was great seeing you again, Dr. Shulman, and I'll see you next week."

And with that, I left the room, only stopping in my office to grab my purse before exiting the practice, joining my fellow pedestrians as we moved in sync on the busy sidewalks, though we headed towards different destinations. I pulled out my phone and immediately speed dialed Gwen.

"Mindy! Hey, what's up?"

"Drop everything you're doing. We're going shopping."

"Oh no. What's wrong?"

I sighed. "More Danny drama."

And as soon as the words left my mouth, I tripped over my own two feet, luckily catching myself before I stumbled to the ground and was stomped by the hordes of impatient New Yorkers.

And in that moment, I was so pissed, so furious that Danny Castellano was having this kind of impact on me, I stopped walking, threw my head back in the middle of the sidewalk and just screeched, right then and there, out of frustration and anger and pure emotion.

People stared at me like I was insane, but it was New York. There were about a million crazier people who had done crazier things.

I put the phone back to my ear after releasing my primal scream. Gwen was repeatedly asking if I was okay. I cut her off, "Meet me at Macy's on 34th street. NOW!"

* * *

**A/N: YAY! That was Chapter 1! I really hope you all enjoyed it. Progressively more will be revealed, because I know you're probably wondering why'd Mindy come back from Haiti, where's Casey, is he even in the picture, what about Christina? All of those questions shall be answered! Anyway, I'm so excited to write this story. I have lots of ideas, but please feel free to leave suggestions in a review! And also give me feedback in the reviews. I'd love to know what you think so far :D. Until next chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Thanks so much for the reviews! I appreciate them. Special thanks to lol-lots-of-laughs for pointing out that error in the last chapter, and, as a result, giving me something to play with in this chapter :D. So with that saidddd... here's Chapter Two! Enjoy.

* * *

**Fonder**

**Chapter Two**

**Black Bears Eat Honey**

* * *

Mindy's POV

I had three suitcases packed full of clothes, shoes and other "necessities" for my weeklong stay in Gatlinburg. I had opted to stop looking at it as something to dread. Now I was more excited to even be going! After researching the place, it was beyond awesome. The cabins were equipped with a pool table (whatevs), some arcade video games (gross), a large kitchen (that I wouldn't know how to use) already stocked with food (score), two king size beds (excellent), a hot tub (perfection), and all the channels you could ask for (YES)! Plus Dollywood, as in the Land of Dolly Parton, existed there. Like… how could it even be awful when someone as fabulous as Dolly herself created such a mystical amusement park?

So I decided not to even bother thinking about the team-building portion of the trip when there were so many other things to look forward to. I had, really, come to this epiphany after my talk with Gwen the day before.

After buying new boots and enough "warmish" clothes to last me a week, Gwen and I went to a Panini shop and pigged out on sandwiches.

"So," she started, "are you going to tell me about the Danny Drama?"

"Shhh!" I whispered, "We do not speak his name—he's like Voldemort, except, Voldemort's dead now and I can say his name whenever I want… not that I want Danny to die. God, no! I'm just pissed at him!"

"Okay, stop blabbering and tell me _why_ you're pissed."

"I'm just sick of it! For the two months I've been back, he-who-shan't-be-named has been acting like I don't exist. Like we didn't have a friendship before I went to Haiti. Like we didn't talk about relationships and argue about the best pizza places in New York. And I don't get why!" I leaned towards Gwen. "Did you know I had to find out through Morgan that he and Christina didn't work out?"

"Uh, no. You didn't tell me about this."

"Oh, I must've gone to Maggie."**  
**

"Mindy!"

"Hey, you probably were with that kid of yours doing whatever mothers and daughters do together."

"Bond?"

"Whatever, just hush and let me tell the story! So apparently the-guy-I-work-with-who-won't-talk-to-me dumped Christina when I was away, and he moved back to New York and she's still in Jersey."

Gwen nodded and waited patiently.

I leaned back with a smirk. "Isn't that crazy?"

She laughed, "Was that it? You don't know anything more?"

"No! I don't because he won't talk to me!"

"Okay listen," she said, "you are getting way too worked up about this. Mindy, honestly, I'd think you have feelings for him that go way beyond platonic friendship ones if I didn't know what a number Casey did on you."

I froze while eating, guilt washing over me. "Ugh, let's not say his name either, except I don't care if he dies…" I took a bite of my Panini then sighed. "Okay, that was a bit far, I don't want him to die. But if a bus hits him and he survives, I'd be satisfied."

Gwen ignored me. "Seriously, what kind of jerk abandons you in Haiti because he finds a different calling? I mean, thank God you found out then rather than later how quickly he'd bail on you. What if you two got married a—and he decided, 'Actually I'm into polygamy!' and then you became a sister wife. Like… what the hell?"

"Wow, you've really thought about this." I said with wide eyes.

"Well, yeah! He really hurt you, and you're my best friend."

I bit my lip, because I couldn't tell her that everything she thought about Casey was a lie. He didn't leave me in Haiti—I had just told her that because I didn't want to tell her, or anyone, what had actually happened.

_Except Danny, _I thought, _I wanted to tell Danny._

Gwen sighed and grabbed my hand from across the table. "All I'm saying is… this isn't you! If Danny doesn't want to be your friend, his freaking loss! You've been trying to figure out what the problem is, so you can walk away now and say that you gave it your best effort. Just let it go, okay?"

I squeezed her hand and took another bite, though I hadn't finished chewing what was in my mouth. It allowed me to avoid talking. I didn't necessarily agree with her—I didn't want to give up on Danny. But I knew Gwen was right about one thing: I wasn't one to beg for someone's friendship.

I swallowed what was in my mouth and thought, _But this is Danny._

* * *

After checking in my luggage and arriving at the airport, I saw Danny was already sitting in our boarding gate. I hesitated. Should I pretend I didn't see him and go sit somewhere else? Or should I be the bigger person and go break the ice since we would be spending the entire trip with each other?

He looked up at that moment and did a double take when he saw I was staring at him. For the briefest of moments, a faint smile appeared on his face, and my chest tightened in joy and nervousness, because, by God, Danny Castellano had just smiled at me. Everything Gwen had said flew out of the window.

But just as quickly as his smile came, it was gone, and he was looking back down at his paper, reading it fervently.

I hated the sinking feeling in my stomach. Had I really gotten my hopes up?

I shook my head. No. I was not going to get upset and let him ruin this amazing trip! I was going to march over there, sit right beside him, and chat like everything was okay between us! Wasn't that our issue? Communication? I'd _communicate_ with him everything but our problems and ignore the fact that something was actually wrong… it was better than nothing!

With that decided, I stepped forward, stubbing my toe into a pot with a ridiculously large plant inside. What was that, a freaking venus fly trap? I wanted to holler and throw a hissy fit, but instead I took a deep breath, clenching my jaw tightly and squeezing my eyes shut. _Be strong Mindy, _I thought, _You are on a mission. Mission Get-Danny-to-Talk-to-You. _With that I slightly limped to the seat beside Danny.

"Jeez! I've become such a klutz lately."

"Hmm." He said nonchalantly.

"I mean you saw me yesterday, gripping my ass cheek awkwardly. Sorry about that by the way, but that's what you get for barging into my office! A face full of… of ass…"

God, did I really just say that? I was nervous, and whenever I got nervous, I started rambling and never knew what would come out of my mouth.

Apparently that.

He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. "Yeah, well."

And that was it. He opened his paper and even repositioned himself in his chair so he wasn't facing me as much. Was he freaking serious?

I let out another deep breath. My yoga instructor would be proud. "So are you excited about the mountains? Nature! So cray, right?"

He raised a brow at me over his shoulder. "Cray?"

Okay, he was talking. Slight progress. "Yeah! Cray! I read last night that there are a lot of black bear sightings in the Rocky's. Maybe we'll see one."

"What do the Rocky's have to do with anything? We're going to the Smokies."

"Really? The Smokies? Huh. Was I looking at the wrong website? Anyway, whatever, black bears are probably in the Smokies too, and Danny, we'll probably see one!"

He didn't speak for a second, but seemed to blurt out, "You want to see a black bear. Mindy Lahiri."

I grinned, even though his tone was condescending. He was having a conversation with me!

"Well, no. I'm actually really terrified that one will sneak into our cabin and attack us after failing to find honey… or whatever black bears do. Winnie wasn't a black bear. He was a honey bear—a yellow bear? Is that racist? Eh regardless, it'd be something memorable from our trip, if we survive. Then again—"

He shut his paper and turned to me, cutting me off in the process. "Listen, you said it perfectly yesterday when we were talking to Shulman. Some friendships just aren't meant to be… so this right here? You trying to make conversation? Just stop it. Let's not force it."

And with that he grabbed the duffle bag he carried and moved one seat over so there was space between us.

Wow. What the hell was going on? He'd never been so mean to me, even when we actually didn't like each other in those early days. Had I done something?

I rolled my eyes, hating how sad and pathetic I sounded. Why was he working me up into such a tizzy? _I never would've worked this hard for my past loser boyfriends. If one of them ever made me feel this crappy, I'd give them a piece of mind and kick them out of whatever place we were in! Just like Gwen said, this isn't me._

So why wasn't I giving Danny a piece of my mind? What was holding me back? I shook my head of the thoughts. I was here for _vacation_, not to resolve my issues with—

Wait. Resolving issues was the point of this trip.

I grunted, hating how sour my mood had quickly become. I looked at the source of my misery and grumbled loudly enough for Danny to hear, "You're such a jerk."

His shoulders stiffened at the words, but then he relaxed and continued reading his paper.

I retrieved my iPad from my purse and started online shopping, my go-to stress reliever. This relaxing vacation I wanted to have despite Danny's apparent contempt for me was going to be harder than I anticipated.

* * *

After a long and awkward plane and taxi ride, we finally arrived at our cabin... which was way less glamorous than Shulman led us to believe.

"Okay, the ones I saw online were like freaking penthouses," I said as our driver hauled two of my suitcases to the front door. I pushed my sadness over Danny not even muttering how foolish it was of me to bring so much stuff for a week aside. "Did you look at any online?"

He shook his head. "I didn't bother. This is a bogus 'retreat.' Absolutely pointless. What is it gonna be, therapy? I—I don't need therapy, thank you very much."

I scoffed. "Calm down there, guy. No one said you did." I walked up the short path from the dirt road that led to the front door. The cabin was small but beautiful inside. The living room held, as advertised, a pool table and Pac Man arcade game, as well as a small sofa with a huge flat screen on the wall.

The kitchen was quaint, with a fridge filled with food and an island that seated six.

And lastly the two bedrooms. One was enormous with a bedside fridge, enormous flat screen, a king size bed with a beautiful, mahogany headboard, and its own bathroom. The other room was small with, as promised, a king size bed that took up the entire room.

Without a word, I shuffled into the massive room and flopped on the bed. "Oh my God, this is _perfect_! I'm in heaven!" I opened the mini-fridge and grinned at the champagne bottle. I knew there would be a night when that champagne would come in handy. I closed the fridge for now.

I pulled out my phone and called Gwen.

Except I didn't have service.

I shot up in my bed. "What the hell?" I shouted.

With a pout, I jog-walked out of the room and to Danny's, where he was unpacking his absurdly small suitcase, as if he packed so little to prove a point. I gave myself a second to overlook his ridiculousness to address the problem at hand.

"Does your phone get service, Danny?"

He looked up, and I couldn't control the soft smile that crept onto my face. I loved catching him off guard. His face always was that of the pre-I-hate-Mindy Danny.

He snapped his fingers and I had to shake my head to refocus on the present. "Huh, what'd you say?"

"I _said_ we get no service in the cabins. Besides, the retreat doesn't allow cell phones unless there's an emergency—our contact is Shulman, of course."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Is that right? And, uh, how do you know that if you didn't do any research, Castellano?"

He clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes at me. "Fine, I read up on it, just to prove how stupid this whole thing is."

I grinned at him, not wanting to ruin the moment by teasing him. And the craziest thing happened:

He smiled back.

Just as he did, the front door slammed open.

Immediately I screamed, "HONEY YELLOW BLACK BEAR!"

Danny yanked me into his room and stepped into the living area, but he wasn't screaming. Instead he asked someone, "Who the hell are you?"

I joined him in the living room to see a man and woman in polo shirts and khaki shorts standing side by side with wide grins and fanny packs. The lady stepped forward and vigorously shook Danny's hand. "Hi! I'm Sheryl! We're also here for the team-building retreat. And this is my husband, Rob."

Rob stepped forward and shook Danny's hand as Sheryl moved onto me. I cleared my throat, however. "Um, wait, you guys are staying here?"

"Yes! Attendees of this retreat share a cabin, and those atten_dees _are _we_," Rob answered, laughing at his own rhyme while shaking my hand. "What's your name?"

"Uh, Mindy. Did you just say counselor? Is this going to be like camp?"

"It is!" Sheryl exclaimed. "Did you not print the schedules? No worries! I brought extras." She pulled out two folded sheets of paper from her fanny pack and handed one to both Danny and me. "In fifteen minutes, we're meeting at Jeff and Laurel's cabin. They're our counselors. We wanted to drop our bags off before we went back, though."

I glanced at Danny and said, "Oh, we thought we had the cabin to ourselves so there aren't any extra bedrooms."

"Really?" Rob said, "Well, I know we all have problems, but would you mind sharing a room so we can have one?"

"Uh, I don't think that's a good idea," I said just as Danny mumbled, "Yeah, no, that'd be extremely unprofessional."

"Oh. Are you two not a couple, or in a relationship?" Sheryl asked, her brows furrowed.

"_No_. We're business partners. Aren't you two? This is a retreat for building a better business relationship… right?" Danny asked, his tone wavering slightly.

I raised a brow at the couple. "You two _are_ business partners, right? You just happen to be married."

They looked at each other then laughed slowly, turning back to us. "Wow, I don't know how you two got confused, but this retreat is definitely for couples trying to better their relationship. We would never work with each other. I barely can stand to be in the same room as him!" And they both laughed, which was slightly disturbing, but I had a bigger problem.

My stomach dropped. Oh no.

Danny backed away from us while shaking his head. _Crap,_ I thought,_ he's about to freak out._

"Yeah, call a cab, Mindy!" He shouted as he walked into his bedroom, throwing the few clothes in his drawers back into his duffle bag. "We're getting the hell outta here! Shulman, the old geezer, set us up!"

I followed after him. "Set us up? W—what does that even mean?" I asked, quietly shutting the door behind me. When he didn't respond, I continued, "He probably just wanted us to get some immediate help, a—and the business team-building thing must not have been available now, and let's be honest, we need help _now_."

He sighed and let a hoodie fall from his hand onto the floor, slowly taking a seat on the bed. I sat beside him. "Listen… I know you don't want to be here, or be friends, so let's just stick this out for the sake of our careers. Because even though you may hate me, I know you love the practice. And it'd suck if our inability to work together ruined everything… not just for us, but for Jeremy and Peter and Betsy and Morgan and Tamra and even Beverly. Though, Bev's life's already a mess. Let's not make it worse by putting her out of a job."

Danny rubbed his hand from the back of his head down to his face to rub his eyes, mussing his hair in the process. I had to fight the urge to reach up and massage my fingers through his hair. I always thought his hair was quite nice, and head massages were always soothing. He looked like he needed soothing. "Fine. For the sake of the practice, I'll stay at this stupid couple's retreat. Jesus." He grumbled.

"Good," I said, standing from beside him.

I walked to the door, but as I placed my hand on the knob, Danny's words stopped me, "I don't hate you, Mindy."

I bit my lip and stood, frozen. Part of me wanted to turn to him and ask a million questions, like, "Then why do you act like it?" or "Why do you insist there aren't any problems between us when there obviously are?" but I secretly was afraid of his answers. Hating someone required caring for him or her to an extent, and Danny just didn't seem to care.

So, to avoid the truth, I opted to merely smile at him and say, "Well, Danny, that is good to know. It'll, uh, make working together much better."

And with that I left the room, hating that we had come to ignoring how truly screwed up our relationship was.

Maybe if I looked at this trip as less of a vacation and more of the actual reason we had come, then Danny and I could make some real progress and get to the root of our dysfunction.

I turned to Sheryl and Rob with a grin after shutting Danny's door and whispered, "Let's get this therapy started!"

* * *

**A/N: And that's Chapter 2! Again, thanks for all the reviews! I appreciate each of them so much. I'll try to get the next chapter out in a few days, so in the meantime, feel free to REVIEW and leave feedback :). Until next chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** So I posted this hastily earlier but took it down after seeing how many mistakes I had, especially run-on sentences. I personally don't mind a good run-on here and there, it gives a character more character ha, but the ones I had before were ridiculous.

ALSO, can we talk about how AMAZING tonight's episode of The Mindy Project was? (You've Got Sext). I want to rewatch a million times because it was perfect. Can't wait to see the fics based off of this episode!

* * *

**Fonder**

**Chapter Three**

**Unusual Voices**

* * *

Mindy's POV

"Welcome to Building a Better Relationship," Laurel spoke excitedly before snapping her neck to look at Danny and me. "Er, or Business Partnership! We're so excited to have you four here with us. Jeff and I will be coaching you to understand why your problems exist and what steps you can take to create a healthy and loving relationship," again, she snapped her head towards Danny and me, "or business partnership."

Sheryl, Rob, Danny, and I comfortably sat in Jeff and Laurel's living room for our first session at the camplike therapy retreat. While the counselors stretched out on the floor, Sheryl and Rob sat beside each other on the couch, Danny sat stiffly in an ever stiffer mahogany chair, and I reclined fabulously on a chaise lounge, feeling all the part of Marilyn Monroe, if she ever went to mountainside cabins and partook in couple's therapy without even being in a relationship.

_She did have a thing with JFK, _I thought. _She probably needed some guidance after that one._

Jeff looked between Danny and me. "We guarantee the tools you'll learn here will apply to mending a broken business partnership, okay? I see you look a bit antsy, Danny, but I promise you Laurel and I have taken into account that you two are not in a relationship. Regardless, you'll benefit from this."

"Thanks, Jeff," I said with a grin, trying to compensate for Danny's moodiness.

"So, why don't we take this time to go around the room and express why you, individually, are here," Jeff said. His eyes landed on Sheryl, "Why don't you begin, Sheryl?"

She sat up straighter with a wide grin. "Sure! Of course. Well, you see, Rob and I have been married for about fifteen years now, and, to be frank, I can't stand to even look at his face!" She spoke while grinning at the man she claimed she couldn't stand, her facial expression never wavering. "After his, ahem, indiscretion a few months ago, I can't get that image out of my head and it's truly driving me _insane_. So I am here in hopes of moving past his indecency in order to save our marriage."

Laurel nodded then turned to Rob, "Rob, your turn."

He returned Sheryl's grin. "I'm here because my wife says she wants to resolve our problems but she can't even say that I cheated on her. How can we even begin to move past our issues if she can't even say what I did? I _cheated_! Stop calling it a mere indiscretion, like that makes it any better."

Sheryl's smile was becoming strained. "Well Rob, dear, perhaps I'm afraid of what I might do to you if I ever fully wrapped my mind around all the disgusting things you did with that," she paused, her lips pulled together tight, before yelling out, "WHORE!"

Rob turned to the counselors, smile still on his face. "And I'm also here in lieu of filing a restraining order against her in fear for my life."

"Okay then," Jeff said, "that was great. Uh, Danny, why don't you share with us why you're here?"

Danny turned his confused face from the smiling couple to Laurel and Jeff. "Uh, I'm here under orders from our, uh, temporary boss, I guess. Mindy can't seem to work with me, so I'm stuck here for her to determine whatever problem she has with me and work it out, because I don't have a problem with her."

My mouth dropped as I whipped my head to stare at him. "Are you freaking serious, Danny? You're going to put all of this on me?"

"Yeah, I am!" He exclaimed, folding his arms over his chest, "You're the one walking around the office, all mopey and whatnot. I leave my problems at the door when I come to work. Apparently you can't separate the two."

I pursed my lips. This was slightly true. Maybe we wouldn't be in this predicament if I wasn't so hurt that Danny avoided me at the office. But… wasn't _he_ bringing his problems to the office by ignoring me?

"Apparently _you _can't either! You think not talking to me isn't bringing your problems to work?"

"What? I talk to you whenever I deem it necessary."

"Oh, okay, so is it _necessary_ to ask Betsy to come ask me something like you're a _fifth grader_?"

He shifted in his seat awkwardly. "I'm probably just busy or—"

"Or is it _necessary _to go behind my back and try convincing Jeremy and Peter not to let me come back to work?"

He froze at my words and looked at me for the first time during that session, shocked. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Yes, I know about that."

"Mindy, I—"

"While all of this is great," Laurel interrupted, "why don't we hold off on this for now. Right now we want to focus on getting to know each other and understanding what your partner—er, or business partner—wants to work on so you can help each other during this weeklong therapy, okay?"

I was barely paying attention as Laurel continued to explain the benefits of expression and communication, because I was forcing myself to be angry at Danny so I could avoid feeling hurt. I hadn't confronted him about knowing he tried to keep me away from the practice after my return from Haiti. I didn't want to believe Danny could be so callous, but none of the excuses I came up with in his defense made sense.

It had been my first day back at the office since I'd returned to New York.

Danny, Peter, and Jeremy were congregated in Jeremy's office, the door slightly ajar, just waiting for me to eavesdrop. I had planned to make my big entrance, but the lobby was empty—no staff in sight—and apparently my partners were having some kind of meeting without me.

"Danny," Jeremy was saying, "Paul has willfully resigned so Mindy can come back. I don't understand what the problem is."

"D—doesn't Leopold—"

"Leo_tard_." Peter interjected helpfully.

"—have a contract? Can he just back out of his one year commitment?" Danny asked, sounding a bit breathless.

"If we all are in agreement to release him of his contract, then yes, he can back out. Besides, Mindy's back! This is a good thing."

"Is it? What if Paul sues us for not abiding by his contract," Danny continued.

Peter slightly laughed. "That dude is going on a _sex_ tour, giving _sex_ advice nationwide. He's gonna get major ass on the road. I doubt he's thinking about us."

Danny sighed, and plopped down in his seat. "Okay… but what about her patients? We didn't hand them all to Paul. They were pretty evenly divided amongst the three of us. Paul only had, like, two because he's such a looney tune."

Confusion ran thick in Jeremy's tone. "You sound ridiculous. If he's such a looney tune, then why, just moments ago, did you desperately want him to stay? Mindy's back! She can take over her patients again plus Paul's. She wants to jump right back in—she's not a novice. So we'll let her jump. What is your problem, Danny? Do you not want her to come back?"

I held my breath as I waited for his answer, but decided I couldn't take it. I didn't want to know the truth, yet. Instead, I barged in with a forced smile and said loudly, "I'm back!"

They all guiltily turned, shocked expressions staring back at me for a quick beat before Jeremy and Peter rushed over with hugs and welcomes. Danny cleared his throat as he walked by, simply saying, "Welcome back," before leaving the office to head back to his own.

I had only looked at his retreating back for a moment before turning to Jeremy and Peter, answering all the questions they had. Since that day, I had pushed the conversation to the back of my mind because it was upsetting to know that he wanted me gone so badly.

But now he was stuck with me, and had no escape. I was going to get some answers on this trip.

"Mindy! You still with us?"

It was Jeff. I snapped out of my reverie as my vision focused back on the counselors, waiting patiently for me to respond, and to Danny, whose eyes were fixed on the fireplace. I turned to Jeff, "Yes, I'm still here."

"Alright good. Well why don't you tell us all why you're here."

I sat up straighter, determination dripping in my every word, "I'm here to get Danny Castellano to honestly tell me why he stopped talking to me when I got back from Haiti. There is a reason, and he refuses to acknowledge it, so all I want from this trip is the truth."

Danny's jaw muscles tightened, but he didn't waver in his seat after my proclamation.

Laurel briefly looked back and forth between us before she clapped with a smile. "Okay, great! Now that you all know what your partner is expecting from this trip, we can start building from there and figuring out what the root of you all's problems is. That sound good?"

"Yes!" Sheryl cheered.

"Okay, that was a great first session, you guys! Now what we're going to do is just relax. Laurel and I ordered some pizza which should be here any minute now, and we've already chilled the wine. So let's just take the time to get to know each other in a more relaxed environment. No pressure!"

I smiled. Wine sounded perfect right now. We all began talking then, the disturbing couple less disturbing once they were separated. Sheryl was amicably talking to Laurel while Rob and Danny discussed some random sport, because all sports were basically random, with the exception of tennis. Now that's a classy sport.

Jeff and I sat side by side at their kitchen island at this point, chomping on pizza while sipping sweet Riesling.

"Wait," I said, my eyes wide, "your favorite movie is How Harry Met Sally?"

"Well, yeah! It's basically my story—it's how the love of my life and I met, with a few minor changes" he said with a grin.

I hit is arm lightly. "Shut up, are you serious? That is so awesome! Tell me every single detail."

"Well, Alex and I met—"

"Wait. You and Laurel aren't a couple?"

He slightly laughed. "No, no. We _used_ to be together. But, uh… I realized it wasn't what I wanted."

"Oh. Well this isn't awkward for you guys? It's freaking couples therapy. You're basically reminded everyday how you guys didn't work out. That's horrible."

"That kind of makes it helpful, don't you think? We work with couples who have so many problems, we realized that the kind of problems we were dealing with weren't fixable, whereas with Sheryl and Rob, their problems can be resolved, or you and Danny, even, it can be resolved. She and I are at peace with that."

I was glad the counselor had hope in Danny and me, but I stopped myself from asking him to divulge more of his opinions about the two of us. I was temporarily on a different mission, which was be nosy and figure out what was going on between he and Laurel. "Okay, so why were your problems so unfixable?"

"I wouldn't really call it a problem... Okay, you know how I was telling you about Alex?" he asked with a grin. "Yeah, Alex is a guy. Laurel, sweet as she is, just wasn't what I wanted."

I beamed at him. "Oh my God! No wonder! That totally makes sense—not that you're gay, because my gaydar totally sucks. I never would've guessed Lance Bass was on the other team. But, I was always Team JT, anyway. No, it makes sense that you and Laurel didn't work out… Well good for her, still being able to work with you. And good for Alex for scoring such a hottie!"

Jeff laughed. "Yes, good for him. And good for me, too. He really is perfect for me."

I nodded happily. "That's amazing. I'm still looking for Mr. Right. If you can guide me in the right direction, please lead me to him."

He stared at me with furrowed brows, one of them raised as if confused. "Are you being serious?" He asked.

I downed what was remaining in my glass then turned to him. "Uh, yeah. I've had horrible, horrible, _horrible_ luck in love. I'm tired of the games, Jeff. Find me someone who I can truly fall in love with. And when I say love, I mean sweep me off of my feet, never coming back down to Earth, deep, deep love that I'm learning I've never experienced."

"And you don't already have anyone in mind?" he asked.

I put my finger to my chin in false pensiveness. "Nope! No one has really tickled my fancy. Every guy I've dated has just been… blah. I haven't met that guy who just gets it, ya know? Who gets me."

"Oh, Mindy," he said, placing his hand on my shoulder. "By the end of this week, I think you'll be leaving with more than you ever expected."

I opened my mouth to ask what he meant until something shattered behind us. Sheryl had drunkenly thrown her wine glass at Rob, apparently barely missing him by the way he was lying flat on the floor. He stood up slowly and looked around at all of us. "Don't worry, don't worry. This happens all the time."

Jeff stood up to join Laurel in calming Sheryl, who was yelling profanities that I never would have expected to spill from the pigtailed, fanny pack wearing woman's mouth. As Rob provoked her Jeff told Danny and I that we should head on back while they deescalated the situation.

He and I quickly exited, myself snagging a wine bottle on the way.

It was nice outside. I had worn a comfy sweater, and that was all I needed to guard myself against the cool, night breeze. Danny wore his leather moto jacket, and the half-moon's glow hit the side of his face perfectly, illuminating his brown eyes. He seemed oddly at peace and amused after what we had just witnessed. His calmness made me feel a bit more at ease, because I was really freaked out by their cookiness.

As Danny and I walked the short trail that led to the cabin, I said quietly to him, "Are we going to be okay sharing a cabin with them? They seem… unstable."

He rubbed his neck. "Wish I could give a straight answer, but I honestly don't know. It's kinda funny to watch. Hopefully the counselors will keep 'em overnight so we don't have to deal. That way we won't have to worry about sleeping arrangements, either."

Right. Sleeping arrangements. I bit my lip then slightly glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. "Look, I don't mind sharing a room with you. There are sleeping bags in the closet, and we can alternate the bed each night if you'd like."

He was quiet for a moment before he finally said, "Nah, that's okay. I can sleep on the couch… Thanks, though."

"No prob," I said, voice still unusually quiet.

We approached the door, but before I walked inside Danny spoke up, "Uh, about not wanting you to come back to the practice."

I stopped walking and faced him. I was pleasantly surprised to hear him bring it up. Maybe he wasn't as soulless as I thought he'd become.

"I'm sorry you had to find out. I just… wanted to be sure the practice was protected, and we weren't making any missteps by bringing you back too soon."

I kicked a rock then looked back at him. The moon still lit his face perfectly, except now it wasn't as relaxed as they were moments before. His guard was up. He was hiding something, as always. "Is that really all, Danny?"

He stood there, arms folded over his chest and body stiff. Finally, he let out a breath, and answered, "It's the only reason that matters."

So there was more. My ears perked up, but judging from his face and body language, I wasn't getting any more info. Pushing him to tell me anything had been futile in the past. It was time for him to continue taking initiative to open up to me about whatever was bothering him. "Well, I hope one day you'll let me decide what matters and what doesn't, because I'd like to know."

I opened the door but stopped and turned back to him. I hadn't realized he was walking in right behind. I ran into his chest, and he placed his hands on my hips to steady me.

My heart started racing.

What was happening?

I swallowed and stared up at him, our faces only inches apart. He was taller than I anticipated—I had never really looked at him from this position before. I usually wore heels, which made us closer in height, but in that moment, he seemed to tower over me. And his chest was hard, solid—it felt so nice under my palm. I knew he worked out, and I knew he was in shape, but actually feeling his strength, and feeling the warmness of his body against mine...

My mouth went dry as I attemped to speak but couldn't find the words.

He appeared to be in a similar predicament.

Finally, I found a voice that didn't seem like mine. "Thanks," I said, my voice still unusually soft, "for telling me… and explaining everything to me."

"Yeah," his voice was unusually low and soft, too. But then he stepped back and cleared his throat, rubbing his hands together. "I mean, I thought you deserved to know."

I held the wine bottle to my chest, as if it were some kind of barrier that could separate Danny from me and my unexplainably fast beating heart. "Okay… _cool_," I drew out the word awkwardly, then abruptly turned and walked into the cabin. I was freaking out internally. What the hell had just happened? I wanted to call Gwen and tell her everything, but I was alone. There was no escape!

Suddenly, I felt like I wanted to run, or, let's be honest, go for a brisk walk so I could take a moment to just think. But since I couldn't—there was no way I was going out there alone where the honey yellow black bears could get me—my other nervous habit kicked in.

"So," I said to Danny while placing the wine in the fridge, preparing myself for a good ol' rambling session, "let's talk about how _psycho _our housemates are!"

"You think we're psycho?"

I turned to see Sheryl and Rob standing in the doorway.

My eyes widened at their disheveled states, their stares harsh enough to sear right through me. Danny stood there, a slow grin coming onto his face at the sight.

"Ah, crap."

* * *

**A/N: And that twas Chapter 3! Hope you all enjoyed. I loved writing it, especially the moment between Danny and Mindy ;). **

**Randomness, but weren't Peter and Morgan perfect in tonight's episode? Hahaha I laughed the entire time they were texting together. Winky face. Hahaha ahhh, such a great episode. I love TMP...**

**Until next chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Thanks again for your reviews, folks. I want to respond to a particular one that asks me to explain Casey and Christina, but again, those details will unfold progressively. Mind you, in my story Mindy and Danny have barely talked, and neither knows the details of the other's situation. So, as the reader, you guys will learn with them of each other's romantic predicament! Isn't that fun :D? lol

Now onward with the story…

* * *

**Fonder**

**Chapter Four**

**Two Miles Back**

* * *

Mindy's POV

"Okay, take it easy, Sheryl," Danny said to the highly intoxicated woman as he and Rob helped her sit on the couch.

She wriggled out of their grip and pointed at me, still seated. "H—hey! You called me psycho! I—I'm not psycho. I'm just emotionally… damaged because of that man! Right there!"

Rob opened his mouth to speak but Danny placed his hand on his arm, silencing him. "Listen, Rob, she's already drunk. Let's not prod at her to rouse some kind of reaction."

"I wasn't—"

"And Sheryl," Danny went on, "you need to sleep this off and drink plenty of water because your hangover is gonna be the psycho tomorrow."

I smiled at Danny behind the kitchen's island, where I safely crouched in fear of Sheryl's wrath. He always knew when to step in and take control of a situation. I loved that about him.

Sheryl hopped off of the couch, almost tripping over her feet as she stepped towards Rob. "Yeah, you leave me be so I can sleep this off! A—and don't you even try getting any tonight, because m—my goodies are locked away! And I'm throwing away the key!" And with that, she staggered into her room, slamming the door and locking it.

Rob shrugged and turned to us. "If only you knew how often this happens." He clapped his hand firmly on Danny's shoulder. "Welp! Looks like we'll be sharing this couch, pal!"

I couldn't contain the giggle that escaped from my lips. Rob was a giant, probably a good 6'5". There was no way Danny and he were going to fit on that couch together. It would be amusing to watch, but there was no way it was possible.

So where was he going to sleep?

I straightened from behind the counter and cleared my throat. "Well, good night guys. I'm gonna head to bed."

I made my way to the room and quietly closed the door behind me. I desperately wanted to run a bath with the complementary lavender bath salts, but I found menial tasks to do around the room, like smoothing out the bed comforter, and shifting a suitcase under the bed slightly to the left. I wanted to be near the bedroom door when Danny knocked on it, which I knew he'd do because there was no way he was sharing that couch or sleeping on that hardwood floor. And honestly a part of me really wanted to hear his knock, and hear him ask to sleep in my comfortable, carpeted room.

The thought freaked me out. I always liked being around Danny. For some reason I always had a good time with him even if we were doing nothing, and now was no different… except, it _was_ different in a way I couldn't explain.

A knock sounded on my door.

My heart instantly lurched and I smoothed my shirt down before grumbling to myself, "Stop it, freak. It's just Danny."

I opened the door and smiled at him. "W—what can I do for you, Castellano?"

He was rubbing the back of his neck, and I kicked myself for finding his pit-stained shirt endearing. It was gross! Not cute!

"Uh, so obviously I'm not gonna fit on that couch."

I laughed. "Really? I hadn't noticed."

He rolled his eyes. "Ha-ha. I'm gonna need one of those sleeping bags." He motioned towards the room. "Can I come in and grab one?"

I stepped aside and let him enter, disappointment instantly overcoming me. "Sure, yeah. So you're going to sleep on that hard, cold floor?"

"Huh, you've got a point, the floor is pretty cold and hard," he said, turning to look at me. "Guess I'll grab two sleeping bags."

He pulled down two from the closet. "Besides, I don't have much choice, ya know. Rob was pretty drunk too and he's already snoring on the couch. I'd be an ass to move him. Tomorrow I'll be sure they don't cause me any trouble." He held the sleeping bag up and lifted them onto his shoulders. "Thanks… and good night."

"Night Danny." I said quietly, watching him leave the room and set his sleeping bags up on the other side of the living room from Rob, beneath a window. I could tell he had the perfect view of the moon from his position, and I wondered briefly what it'd be like to lay beside him, tucked underneath his arm, staring at the sight with him.

I abruptly shut my door then leaned against it.

Where the hell was this coming from?

Once upon a time, and I do mean once… or twice, when I randomly had a similar fantasy of Danny and me living happily ever after, I was able to distract myself with work to avoid the thoughts. I had always attributed my Danny Fantasies to my lack of a relationship, or lack of a meaningful one, and feeling lonely. Danny was a constant back then, and thinking about what it'd be like to have him hold me in his arms, or trail kisses down my neck, or lay me down wherever he wanted and—

"Mindy! Jesus," I hissed at myself, "get it together, you perv!"

I always was able to shake any thoughts of him from my head with work at the practice but here? I had nothing to do _but _think, and it seemed that the only thing on my mind was Danny Castellano.

* * *

"Good morning you all! Did you sleep well?" Jeff asked as the four of us approached what appeared to be an obstacle course. On the schedule it read to meet the counselors at the forth point along the Pigeon trail at 9:00am. So, though I felt like I was on vacation and didn't want to haul my ass out of bed for a nature hike, I got up and was glad I did. The hike allowed me to see the beauty of the Smoky Mountains, and also some of the other, bigger cabins. They were as more beautiful than nature. Maybe I'd plan a trip back here.

Sheryl gripped her head and chugged her second water bottle that morning. "Uh, yeah. Slept really well. By the way, I heard about my antics last night. I don't remember a thing, but I am profusely sorry," she said to the counselors.

"It's okay," Laurel put a hand on Sheryl's shoulder. "We're all here to learn about ourselves and grow as a team."

Jeff nodded. "Exactly, which is why we have this great obstacle course set up. Today we're going to focus on team work."

I looked ahead of me, already slightly tired by the 15 minute walk we just took uphill. Jeez, more exercise? I turned to Danny as he excitedly surveyed the course before him. There was a low net set up that I had seen in movies like Private Benjamin where you had to crawl beneath, then after that square, rope ladders were on the ground, which I assumed we'd have to walk—run, if Danny had anything to do with it—through, and lastly there were monkey bars that we'd have to swing through before running to your pole, ours was red, and touching it to complete the challenge.

Danny leaned towards me, and I hated that my breath actually caught in my throat. "Listen," he whispered as the counselors explained the course just as I had predicted, "I'll run through it first so you can have plenty of time to finish without risking the chance of us losing. Sheryl's so hungover, there's no way she's beating you. It might be close, but nah, she won't win."

I scowled at him. "Jeez, ye of little faith. You don't think I can outrun a lady with a killer hangover? What makes you think you can beat Rob so easily? He's a behemoth of a man. He's huge. And not fat, either."

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall. He makes one mistake, I'm taking it. See, I'm limber, I won't stumble. Once I'm in there, I'm not coming out until it's time to take it home." He was staring at the obstacle course, referring to it, I knew that, but his words sounded oddly erotic to me, even though I knew they weren't! I shook my head at the thought, making myself focus on the fact that he was talking to me.

Of course when he talks to me again for an extensive amount of time, it would be about his athleticism.

"You know... I should go first," I whispered now. "That way if I do happen to lag behind the drunk, you can make up for it. When your adrenaline starts pumping, super star athlete, then there's no stopping you, right?"

He smirked, puffing his chest out. "Yeah, I guess you're right. We'll do it your way."

"Wow, great!" I exclaimed grinning at him. I definitely didn't expect him to agree with me so quickly. "And I know how competitive you are, so I'll actually try. I won't let you down."

A genuine smile slid on his face, and he nodded once at me.

"Alright," Jeff said, grabbing our attention again, "who'll be going first for your teams?"

When I stepped forward, Sheryl did, too.

Laurel yelled, "On your mark, get set," then blew her whistle.

And I took off running. When I got to the net, I thanked God there wasn't mud like in Private Benjamin, but channeled the fabulous Goldie Hawn crawling under the net and got through quicker than I expected. Next I high kneed through the ladder with everything in me, then went across the monkey bars. By the time I touched the pole, I was exhausted, but knew I had to get back.

"You got it, Min! Keep going!" Danny yelled from the other side of the obstacle course. I looked to Sheryl, who had just grabbed the last rung of the monkey bar, and jogged back into the course to maintain my lead. I could hear Danny cheering for me, and that was all the encouragement I needed.

Finally, I was at the other side, where I smacked his waiting hand.

Instead of running into the course and dominating like I expected, he took a brief moment to rub the small of my back and say, "Good job."

Then he ran into the course and dominated.

Rob was decent competition but had nothing on Danny. Breathless, I cheered for Danny in between sips of water.

When he came back, I held my hand up for a high five, which he did with a loud "YEAH!"

I laughed. I loved competitive Danny.

"Good job, all of you! Both teams did excellently," Laurel said then grinned, "but that wasn't the hard part. The real challenge is now."

"This time when you go through the obstacle course, you'll be tied up to your partner and going through each phase of the course together, truly as a team. Your inside hands and feet will be tied together. Now, while I give you five minutes to catch your breath, talk to your partner about the best way to do this. " Jeff explained.

I turned to Danny with a "Yikes!" expression on my face. "Well, this just got a little harder."

He shook his head, "Nah, we still got it. Just gotta work in unison. Besides, you see the height difference on those two? There's no way they'll win this."

"Very true." I turned to him and offered a half smile. "You were great out there, by the way. You weren't kidding about being limber and not stumbling, huh?"

He laughed. "I never kid about not stumbling."

And I laughed, too. Such progress we were making already.

And that progress only continued after our hands and feet were tied. Again, Laurel shouted, "On your mark, get set," then blew the whistle.

"Left, right, left, right!" Danny was saying, and I followed his lead. Under the net, he had nothing but encouraging words for me to keep going, left, right, left, right.

I was exhausted by the time we reached the ladders, and Danny, seeing this, did the craziest thing. He grabbed my hand, our fingers laced together, and held it tightly, giving me an encouraging nod before saying again, "Come on, left, right, left right."

It was all I needed. I pushed through, and we made it through the monkey bars and to the finish line. He cheered and tried to give me a high five, but I held up my finger, signifying for him to wait.

Then turned and vomited, because that's what happens when I exercise, which is why I choose not to do it but once or twice a month.

"You good?" Danny asked, amusement all over his face after my brief throw up session.

"Yes, Castellano," I said, smiling back.

He cringed jokingly, "I have some Altoids in my backpack if you want some."

I hit his arm as we made our way back to the counselors. "Shut up, Danny! Wait, are you serious? Does my breath smell bad?"

He grinned and nodded, making me hit his arm all over again.

Jeff came over and untied us, just as Laurel did for Sheryl and Rob as they argued over losing.

"Okay, okay!" Laurel shouted. "Now the next activity we have for you all is called Pass That Apple. So we have five apples for each team, and you have to pass one apple at a time to your teammate, and he or she will place it into the empty basket. The catch is—"

"You can't use your hands. This was totally in Just Go With It, that Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston movie. I'd give it a B, B-."

Jeff laughed. "Well then you should be a pro at this! Alright everyone, go to your station. And on the whistle, start."

I stood by the table with the apples so I could pass them to Danny. He examined them, his competitive spirit still in overdrive. "Huh, uh, you saw that movie. What's the best way to go about this?"

I bit my lip, thinking about how she had grabbed it with her neck and passed it that way. It was ridiculously intimate. I wasn't sure I wanted to have that kind of moment with Danny.

But then again, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. I mean, maybe being so close to him in such an intimate apple-passing position wouldn't be as intimate as it should be on paper. Maybe I'd see that it was all in my head and there was nothing between Danny and me.

"Necks," I answered.

He raised a brow. "Like I _neck_ you? Isn't that a little—"

"It's not like you'll be kissing my neck or whatever, Daniel."

"Daniel?"

"It's just passing it. Don't make it a big deal!"

I don't know why I was getting worked up, but the thought of Danny kissing my neck kind of frazzled me.

"Fine," he said, "relax. We'll neck."

"Ugh, don't say it like that!"

"We'll pass the apple via neck." He corrected himself. "Happy?"

"Yes, very."

"On your mark," Laurel suddenly shouted. I crouched to get ready to grab an apple. "Get set," Whistle.

I grabbed an apple with my neck, and Danny and I kept passing them that way. I didn't get a chance to observe whether or not any feelings were overcoming me, however. We were moving too quickly. But on our last apple, somehow it dropped between us. Danny immediately dropped to the ground and tried to pick it up with his neck, but it wasn't working. "Hey," he said, "I'm gonna use my foot to roll it up your leg, and then we'll have to use our bodies to get it up."

Holy fuck. Was he serious?

But he was already rolling the apple up my leg. His competitiveness must've made him oblivious to the fact that doing this would require us to rub against each other, but I wasn't that competitive. I knew what we were in for.

_Focus, focus, _I thought, repeating the mantra over and over. Our bodies met and we wiggled against each other to get the apple up. It sat between our chests, and I had to keep saying, _Focus, focus, _so I wouldn't get distracted by the fact that our pelvises were touching and our chest were only separated by an apple. Suddenly, I wished I had worn a jacket to create more room between us, but it wasn't so cold today and I only wore a V-neck long sleeve shirt.

Finally, the apple was at our collarbones, and Danny reached down and grabbed it with his neck. In doing so, his lips brushed against my neck and I felt myself shiver from the contact. He hadn't noticed, however, and dumped the apple in the basket, my body suddenly cold from the absence of his. He jerked his head to the other team, who had just placed their last apple into the basket a second later. Danny pumped his fist in the air. "Whoo!" He shouted, "Great job, Min! That's what I like to see!"

I forced myself to clap excitedly, though my face was burning from the encounter he and I just had. It was sexy! But he hadn't realized it, which was a good thing. I liked that we were finally talking. Any awkward sexual situations definitely would bring a wedge between us again.

"Good job, teams. You did an excellent job today. We'll let you go for lunch, and then you'll have couple, er," Laurel cringed while turning to us, "or business partner, therapy with us after. Take this time to reflect on the activities we just did and we'll talk about them during your session. First up will be Mindy and Danny. So we'll see you guys at 1:00pm."

* * *

Lunch had gone well. Danny and I made sandwiches and talked about how fun the exercise was. It was nice being able to joke with him again.

When we arrived at Laurel and Jeff's cabin for therapy, the two reclined comfortably in the chairs while took seats on the couch side by side.

"So tell us," Jeff began, grinning, "how did you guys do such an incredible job today out there? The activities were all about communication, and you two did a wonderful job communicating."

Danny shrugged, and glanced at me. "Well, I mean, Mindy and I know how to work together. When you're in the OR doing surgery, you have to think on your toes and listen to your partner, which is why we did such an awesome job."

I grinned, nodding my head in agreement.

"Then why are you two here?" Laurel asked. "Weren't you two having trouble working together?"

_Ah, crap_, I thought. I knew actually working on our problems was necessary, but it was nice being at peace with Danny. I peered at him from the corner of my eye and saw he was already tensing up._  
_

But we were here to address our issues. Maybe some good would come of this. "Not during deliveries or surgeries," I answered. "Our focus is solely on the patient, not on any personal problems that may exist... that _do _exist_."  
_

He grunted. "Like I've been saying, I have no problems with Mindy."

"Okay, well Mindy says you suddenly stopped talking to her, with no explanation. Is she just making that up?" Jeff asked.

"I mean, I guess Mindy just thought we were closer than we are," Danny answered, eyes never leaving some random spot on the wall.

"Danny, would you explain to us your understanding of your relationship?" Jeff sat up straighter.

"We're coworkers. That's it."

"Please, more details," Laurel asked.

Danny shifted, and I turned to him, because I wanted to see if he'd be truthful. "Well, Mindy and I only socialized at the office. We don't hang out outside of the office... And if we did, then it'd be related to another coworker... Okay, there have been times when we hung out alone, and I used to talk to her about Christina before we ended things. Uh, Mindy would give me advice and whatnot..."

Laurel nodded. "So you did stop talking to her."

Danny shrugged, "I guess."

I opened my mouth to confront him about why, but Jeff beat me to speaking, "You mentioned a Christina. Can you tell us who she is?"

"My ex-wife," Danny mumbled. "But I don't see how that's pertinent to what's going on here."

Jeff nodded. "It's pertinent, Danny, because from what I understand, you stopped talking to Mindy after you broke up with Christina."

I narrowed my eyes and furrowed my brows in deep thought. I never considered looking at it that way. I always assumed it had something to do with Haiti that caused Danny to stop talking to me. But what if Jeff was right, and it had something to do with Christina?

Danny suddenly stood. "I didn't come here to talk about my ex-wife. And I'm not gonna sit here while you all try to fucking shrink me." He stormed towards the door. "Like I've been saying, _she's_ the one with the problem, so talk to her. Work it out. Do whatever the hell you need. I'm gonna go take a walk."

And he left, slamming the door shut behind him.

I turned to Laurel and Jeff. "Did he seriously just leave?"

"It happens sometimes. Just give him a little time and space. He'll come around to opening up," Laurel reassured me.

I slouched back in the couch, letting out a long sigh. It was like we had taken a huge leap forward, but of course Danny had to bring us two miles back.

* * *

**A/N: Woot! Chapter 4. How do you guys like it? I think I'll start publishing a new chapter each Sunday, so it'll give me time to revise and make sure there aren't any big mistakes (they always slip in somewhere). **

**Also, just a few notes: 1) Peter came to the practice before Mindy returned from Haiti, and 2) This story is taking place at the beginning of Season 2. Okay, that's all for now! I'd love to know what you all think so far! Until next chapter :).**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Okay so I said I was going to publish this on Sunday, but I finished this chapter way earlier than I thought I would, which led to me working on Chapter 6, which I CAN'T wait two weeks to publish because... no. SO here's Chapter Five early :). Also, thanks so much for your reviews! They really do mean a lot! Also also, here's a disclaimer that applies to every chapter since I've never done one for this story!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Mindy Project or any brand names I may mention throughout this story.

* * *

**Fonder**

**Chapter Five**

**Battle of the Exes**

* * *

Mindy's POV

I was angry.

Though I was still in the therapy session Danny had bailed on moments before, I couldn't focus because I was just that angry!

"Do you want to talk about what you're feeling? I can tell you're not really paying attention anymore." Laurel said, concern heavy on her face.

"No, I want to get to the bottom of this," I snapped, standing quickly from the couch. Danny had walked out only ten minutes ago. Hopefully he hadn't wandered too far from the cabins because I was going to track his ass down by any means necessary... unless it got too dark because I wasn't going to get lost in the middle of the Smoky mountains and eaten by a honey yellow black bear, thus ruining my chance of ever confronting Danny about this! "I'll see you all at dinner. I'm going to go find him."

"Mindy, wait, let us come with you and mediate," Jeff said, standing as well.

"Listen," I said, "I know Danny. The last thing he wants is for you all to come with me and corner him. He's like a caged animal. He wants to be free, and if we trap him then he'll resist and fight back. _So..._" I rushed my words together for the last part, "I'll-corner-him-by-myself, and I'm going to get answers, damn it!"

"Mindy, wait—!" Jeff yelled but I was already out of the door.

I put my hands on my hip and looked around. Danny was a runner, but I doubted he would've gone far. I knew he definitely went on one of the trails, but being the sensible guy he is, Danny would only go in a direction he was familiar with or had a map for, and since I knew he didn't have a map, there was only one way I was sure he went.

My eyes fell on the Pigeon trail, and I began to walk up the hill we had come down from only hours before. I really hoped he was here somewhere, because if he wasn't, I'd just be even more pissed. As I trekked up the trail, I let my thoughts carry me. We had been having such a great day. He was so kind and nice to me during the challenge, which came as a huge shock seeing as he's the epitome of competitive, and, when it comes to things like sports, I'm the opposite. But he had encouraged me, cheered for me, and patted my back, and rubbed his body so sensually against mine, unbeknownst to the impact his proximity was having on me.

And then we get to therapy and he acts like we're just coworkers again.

_Am I delusional?_, I wondered, slowing my pace to mull over the situation more carefully. I was chasing after him in the woods like a madwoman all because he didn't agree that we were closer than he was conveying. _What if we're not, and he's just too nice to say he's fed up with me? I'm making a fool of myself._

_Even so, _I continued thinking, _I deserve to hear the truth from him. If he wants me to back off, then he should have the balls to say it instead of just ignoring me like I'm worthless. I want answers, especially since apparently this all tied in with Christina somehow!_

And with renewed purpose, I upped my pace until, low and behold, there he was, running the obstacle course like an insane excercise junkie. I had to force myself not to watch the way his arms and calves flexed as he sprinted from the monkey bars to the finish line pole. When he turned to do it all over again, he stopped when he saw me.

I waved at him, my lips pulled into a tight, sarcastic smile, before I stomped towards him. He met me halfway.

"You have a lot of fucking nerve," I hissed when we met in the middle, poking my finger into his hard, sweaty chest. "How could you walk out, Danny?"

"Look, Mindy, I'm—"

"No, let me finish! I am sick of you avoiding me and ignoring the truth that you stopped talking to me! A-as soon as you admitted it in there, you fucking run out? That was selfish, Danny. This whole thing you're doing—the ignoring me with no explanation?—is just selfish. I'm here not only because Shulman forced us, but because I want..."

I sighed, hating how desperate I was about to sound.

"I want you back."

He looked up from his shoes and into my eyes at my words.

"I want your friendship back. I want to come to you about boy drama and I want you to come to me about pizza spots and how amazing Staten Island is, even though it's gross, and when you find a beautiful woman who you love, I want you to come to me and brag about her. I mean, I may be an idiot for thinking it, but I considered you my best friend. I want to come to you about everything, and now I want to understand what happened that stopped this from being a possibility."

He sighed and said softly, "I didn't know I was your best friend."

"Of course you were," I returned, voice unusual again. "I don't go to just anyone about my drama."

He raised a brow, smirk playing on his lips. "You talk to everyone about your drama. The hotdog guy outside the office could probably write your biography."

I wanted to be angry but the smile came involuntarily. "Okay, but Malcolm is always there and always willing to listen, especially these past few months. He's going through a divorce. Loves talking to beautiful women... I've eaten so many hotdogs since you stopped talking to me."

He squeezed his eyes shut before opening them with another long sigh. "Okay. Come sit down with me."

"Uh, no. I like these pants, and I'm not gonna sit on the ground with crawly things and such creatures."

"Min, there's a bench over there. Come on." He led the way to a fireplace pit with benches surrounding it. We took a seat and sat in silence for at least a minute.

Finally Danny turned to me. "Christina kicked me out and ended the relationship."

"I'm sorry that happened... but I don't get what that has to do with me. I mean, _does_ it have anything to do with me?"

"Yes," he answered, and my heart did that weird lurching thing. I had a million questions in that moment but opted to quiet down and let him express himself for once.

"But not just you. I mean... let me just start from the beginning.

"It was a typical day after work. I got home to Jersey from the practice—that commute sucks—and got ready to start dinner. Shrimp fettucini, my ma's recipe. She had been painting all day, working on a new piece for some gallery exhibit featuring her, I think. But instead of greeting me like she normally would, she asked me to come talk to her.

"So I get to the living room and all my bags are packed. I ask her what's going on and she just said something wasn't right between us, which was crazy because I thought things were great. Granted, I had been working a lot, but that was when you had only been gone for two weeks and some days, and we hadn't hired Peter or Leopold—"

"Leotard."

"—yet. So I was swamped with work."

"And that's why you hate me? Because my absence broke you guys up?"

He smiled softly. "Just let me finish the story, Mindy. I liked being swamped with work, or at least I didn't mind. And because of that Christina confronted me about always working, like I was avoiding going home, and I had to explain to her that I just liked to stick to my routine. Wake up, go to work, work, and work as long as that required, hit the gym, go home if work permits, make dinner, make love, then sleep. That's my routine."

A mix of intrigue and envy hit me at the mention of Danny making love. I wondered how Danny ranked between 1 and 10 as a lovemaker. I mean, the very fact he called it making love already spoke volumes to me.

I swallowed my curiosity and refocused on his story, as he spoke, "But she saw my long hours as me avoiding her, and even accused me of cheating."

"Cheating?"

"Well, not cheating but..." he paused before finally saying, "but, ya know, having strong feelings for another woman."

Before I could ask anything, he went on. "Anyway, after I moved back to the city, I created a particular routine, and for six months, that's what it was... until you came back earlier than I anticipated. I mean, I knew you'd be back in a year, and I guess I expected to have myself together enough to let you back in my life by then..." He trailed off.

_Expected to have himself together for what? _

_"_Wait, what does that even mean?" I asked.

"It means... I'm a methodical guy. I plan, and you messed up the plan."

"What plan, Danny?"

He opened his mouth to speak then snapped it shut. Quietly he laughed to himself while picking up a random twig then tossing it into the firepit.

"What plan?" I repeated.

"My plan to just focus on myself, Mindy. After Christina and I split, I was looking for some consistency and regularity in life—I was in my cocoon of self-evolution, of improvement, o-or whatever. And you weren't apart of that plan, not for another year."

I kind of understood, but not completely. I wanted to ask:

How did my early departure from Haiti mess up your "plan"?

Why am I having such a huge impact on your plan?

Why couldn't I become a consistent part of this new life he was creating?

Did he want me to hang back for another year until he worked everything out? Because that was ludicrous.

"So... I disrupted your consistency, and as a result, you pretended I didn't exist to maintain said consistency?"

He shrugged, avoiding eye contact. "It sounds stupid, but yeah."

He was hiding something.

I don't know why he did it, but he underestimated how well I knew him, and I had proven time and time again that I knew when he was hiding something. But I had learned, especially in these past two days, that when he was ready, he'd come around. I just had to push him more often than not.

"So... does that mean I need to give you space? Reciprocate your avoidance tactics from this point on? And... well, and just let whatever friendship we had be?" I dreaded hearing his answer just as much as I dreaded asking the question.

But he laughed, much to my surprise, and said, "It's a bit late for that. Any kind of normalcy I wanted was annihilated the day you returned from Haiti, and now look at us, in the middle of the mountains in freaking Tennessee." He grinned and patted my knee. "Pretending you didn't exist was impossible, obviously, and it got us in the middle of nowhere. So I'm pretty sure I need to change my routine to include you because it appears that you're..." He looked up at me now, the smile still there much to my joy, "destined to be in my life."

I couldn't believe those words had exited his mouth. _Destined_? He seriously just said destined. He knew I was a romantic comedy nut, was he unaware of how huge of a deal that would be to me?

But I played it cool, instead taking a moment to enjoy the feel of his hand pressed on my knee. "Well, you're my bestie!"

"Ah, Christ," he said, removing his hand from my knee to smack his forehead, which caused me to laugh. His smile warmed me inside.

He rubbed his palms together before saying, "Now that my whole situation is explained, tell me about you and Casey. The, uh, the hot dog guy told me it ended when you were still in Haiti."

I cringed, "Ugh, do I have to?"

"Okay, I just spilled my guts to you about Christina and my routine and—"

"Fine, fine!" I cut him off. "So... well, about five months into the trip, things between Casey and me had gotten really tense..."

**FLASHBACK**

"You sure you want to eat that, babe? Lots of hungry kids here would be grateful to eat as well as you are. Why don't you show some solidarity, put the biscuit down?"

Casey and I were eating a meager meal outside of our tent. It had been an unusually grueling day at the hospital where I volunteered. A mean stomach virus was going around the small community we were in, and I had seen at least 40 young children back to back, in addition to those people who were injured by the devastating earthquake.

I was exhausted and ready to just relax. But lately relaxing had been impossible whenever Casey and I were together. He always managed to find something to criticize, whether it be my choice not to go to all of his missionary sermons, or the length of my hair, which had started to grow; it was always something with him.

Today it seemed to be about my weight again. I had put on some pounds, I thought in all the right places, but it seemed that my little weight gain was troubling him more than me. I had confronted him about his criticism of me twice before, but those times led to explosive arguments where we both said extremely, extremely hurtful things to each other that were unforgettable, and I was beginning to think unrecoverable for our relationship.

"Well, Casey," I responded after a long pause, "I'm very grateful that I have this food, and wouldn't think of wasting it... so I won't."

"Babe, that's greedy. Why don't you just put some back?" He reached to grab my bowl but I jerked it from him.

"No, Casey, what the hell is your problem?" I snapped, repressed anger bubbling to the surface. "Stop being so fucking passive aggressive by trying call me greedy and bring up people in need like I'm a toddler. Just say what you're actually thinking!"

He took in a calming breath. "You're right... I just noticed you've been gaining weight, and I know you'll feel badly about yourself if—"

"Is that really why? Because you think I'll feel badly about myself? Or because you'll feel ridiculous being with me?"

A genuinely confused look crossed his face, "Mindy, you sound ridiculous."

"Do I?" I shouted while standing.

He stood as well, trying to quiet me and escort me into the tent, but I stepped away from him. "No! Don't shush me! You're trying to change me, and have been trying since we got together. But you can't mold me into what you want me to be! I'm not skinny, I'm not a Christian, and I'm not quiet."

"Where is this coming from?" He whispered, brows furrowed.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe from two weeks ago when you put a Bible under my pillow, or how at least twice a week, you comment on my eating habits. A-and just little things build up, Casey!"

"So me trying to make you better is bad?"

"YES!" I shouted. "You should want me as I am, and I should be so motivated by you and in love with you that I want to be better, but I'm not and I don't!" I exploded.

He took a startled step backwards and I bit my lip painfully, kicking myself after realizing what had come out of my mouth. I probably was more shocked by my words than Casey.

"You don't love me?" He quietly asked.

I had tears in my eyes from how overwhelmed I felt by finally getting that burden off of my chest. "No," I finally whispered. "I-I don't."

**FLASHBACK - END**

"And... I finished up the month alone before coming back to New York. I wanted to help so badly and stay, but I was just such an emotional wreck all the time, I was useless trying to help someone."

"Holy crap, Mindy," Danny said with widened eyes. I rolled mine with a small smile on my lips before he asked, "Uh, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I mean, I felt so guilty, ya know. So horribly bad but... I had to move on. I felt trapped in the relationship because on paper he's perfect. He's tall, gorgeous, a leader in the community, adored by all, but... there was just a disconnect. I... I wasn't in it."

"Yeah?" Danny asked, tone unusually quiet.

"Yeah."

He remained quiet for a moment before continuing in that same tone, "Well I understand how you feel."

"Yeah?" It was my turn to ask.

He looked up, the side of his mouth cocked up into a lazy, empathetic smile. "Yeah."

And we stared at each other, both softly smiling and not speaking. It was nice, a wonderful alternative to the typical tension that seemed to always settle between us. But we had finally talked, and now had a better understanding of each other. I had to break the silence, "Does this mean we're friends, Castel_lame-o_?"

He rolled his eyes and bumped his shoulder into mine. "Not if you keep calling me that."

"Can I call you grandpa, or granddaddy, instead?"

He smirked, and said, "Maybe, in the right context."

I narrowed my eyes, "What the hell does that mean?"

He stood up, offering his hand for me to take so I could stand from the bench. "Nothing, Lahiri. Let's head on back before the counselors send out a search team for us."

"Or our psycho housemates."

I looked behind me to be sure they didn't randomly pop up again.

"BOO!"

I shouted as Danny laughed, taking advantage of my brief moment of fear that Sheryl would appear out of nowhere as she had before.

"Not funny, Danny!" I shouted, shoving him and only making him laugh more, and I soon joined in, not able to constrain the joy I felt that Danny and I were joking around, laughing, and finally were friends again.

As we headed back to the cabins, I couldn't help but think about Christina accusing Danny of having strong feelings for another woman.

Danny had cut me off before I could say anything about it, and now that we had cleared the air between us, it seemed like horrible timing to mention the coincidence but, Christina accusing Danny of that stood out so much, and was so eerie to me because...

Well, because Casey had said the very same thing to me.

**FLASHBACK - CONTINUED**

Casey sat down on our air mattress while I stood, my arms crossed protectively over my stomach as if to shield myself from the sadness radiating from the man I thought would be my future husband. "You don't love me." It was a statement now more than a question, so I didn't answer.

He released a deep breath. "Not that it matters, but I never, ever was trying to change you, Mindy. I love you exactly how you are. I just... you get down on yourself, so I've just been trying to motivate you to eat less so later you won't be angry at yourself... a-and the Bible was more for me, not you at all! I just... I'd never want to change you."

I sort of knew that, but since being away from home, there just was something missing between us.

But I couldn't articulate what, so instead chose to continue standing there, blinking to force the tears to fall from my eyes so I could clear my vision.

"Is it someone else?"

"What?" I asked.

He stood so he was in front of me, looking directly at me, and I wished I had kept the tears so I wouldn't have to see Casey's pained expression. "Is that why you've fallen out of love with me? Do you have feelings for someone else?"

"What are you talking about, I've been in Haiti this entire time." I said, suddenly annoyed. "And I'm too focused on volunteering to even begin to think of starting a romance with anyone but you. So, stop that."

He dryly laughed. "Maybe you being in Haiti is what triggered your dormant feelings for someone back home. Is that it?"

I scowled, thinking he sounded ridiculous until Danny's name popped into my head.

I didn't understand why he suddenly popped into my head, but since I'd been in Haiti, that had happened more than several times, and lately more frequently than I anticipated. But I chopped it up to wanting to talk to him about my Casey drama, but getting no response whenever I had attempted.

"Yeah, I thought so," Casey said, pulling me from my thoughts. I hadn't even realized I had zoned out.

I squeezed my eyes shut, guilt flooding me. "I'm sorry Casey. I really am."

"Don't be. You can't help who you love, and I won't try to force you to love me again."

I wanted to argue that I didn't love anyone, but something in me halted that from happening. It was like the words wouldn't come up for whatever reason.

So instead, I softly said the only thing that seemed appropriate, "I'm sorry."

**FLASHBACK - END**

As I looked at Danny's happy face, I buried the story to the confines of my brain and let myself completely enjoy this wonderful moment between the two of us.

* * *

**A/N: And that twas Chapter 5! Hope you enjoyed. Now you guys know the story of the ex's and FINALLY Danny and Mindy are friendssss again. But this story isn't about friendship, oh no! Just keep reading and you'll see where it goes ;). Drop a review. Until next chapter!**

**OH! The Castellame-o I used in this chapter, was that from the show or from a fanfic story? It's in my head but I can't remember if I saw or read it... :/. **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **You guys are incredible for the reviews. Thanks so much! Now I planned to publish this on SUNDAY (yesterday), but I left my laptop at work, and didn't upload the word doc into my doc manager :(. So sorry for the wait if you were expecting this yesterday! This chapter is a bittttt longer than usual. I considered cutting it short, but I think it's better this way. So there's my warning for a slightly long chapter. Hope you have the time to read!

* * *

**Fonder**

**Chapter Six**

**Ritualistic**

* * *

Mindy's POV

The week had gone by quickly. It was our last day of team activities and therapy, and I honestly wasn't ready to leave, which was crazy because I hated nature and loved the loud sounds of the city.

But the mountains were so peaceful, and it was the reason Danny and I were able to have such a great week cramming in 6 months worth of information we hadn't been able to tell each other. During our therapy sessions, we spent that time informing each other of every detail we could think of about our life. I told him about some of the incredible work I did in Haiti, and of some of the even more incredible families I helped and who in turn helped me. I loved the impressed gaze he laid on me when I told him stories of Haiti.

He updated me on all of the office drama, or at least what he could remember of it, while I was gone. While super focused on his "routine," he hadn't really paid attention to the gossip I lived for.

Told me about Betsy and Jeremy's weird romance that just never seemed to happen. Since gaining weight and getting his confidence knocked down, he was starting to appreciate women who weren't so superficial, which is why Betsy was a good match for him. She was beautiful on the inside and out, and valued something more than the number of guys who bought her shots.

Told me about Morgan and my neighbor Heather's flirtations between breaks in the ridiculous love triangle he was in with Tamra and RayRon.

He also told me about some of the women he dated, only saying such upon my prompting. After Christina and he broke up, Danny admitted to having a long string of one-night stands with different women until he began dating EyePatch again. She apparently had come to respect and like some of Danny's qualities, and loved the growth she saw in him, but Danny just wasn't interested anymore. He also dated some crazy neighbor of his, who he still hooked up with from time to time when he was lonely. He didn't say that verbatim, that he was lonely, but I could tell what he meant. And I went on to tease him about being lonely because, if we were going to be friends again, I refused to hide any part of myself, and he seemed to both be annoyed and appreciative of that fact.

Regardless, hearing aboout his romantic trysts was exactly what I wanted, though while listening I always felt awkward... No, awkward was the wrong word. I felt something that made me uncomfortable, though I wasn't sure what. But despite my discomfort, I still wanted to know every detail.

And I shared whatever I could about my life since returning to New York, as well. Told him about the few guys I dated when I got back, like some skater boy-man whose body was divine, and one of the lawyers in the building. He was surprised to hear that I hadn't dated more, but I explained that it just seemed so silly to me. After getting out of such a serious relationship, I was just unmotivated to find "the one."

But now it was our last day in Gatlinburg, and we all were going "couples" kayaking to a beautiful spot nearby. We had hiked a short ways down the mountain to a huge lake. Jeff had given the history of it, but I had gotten caught up in my thoughts, reminiscing about the short week I got to spemd with Danny, rekindling our friendship.

"It's very romantic, the spot we're kayaking to. It's just what repaired couples," Laurel turned to us and coughed, "er, or business partners, need."

Life jackets on securely, we began paddling out to the middle of the lake. Danny was way more excited about this adventure than me. Couldn't we just go around the lake to whatever romantic destination? It seemed like a lot of work, this kayaking trip.

"Danny, my arms are tired!" I whined, laying the paddle over my lap. "Can't you just do all of the work while I sunbathe under this dimly sunny sky?"

"Dimly sunny? A bit of an oxymoron... and let's not get it twisted, I'm already doing all of the work."

"Well, then I guess I can stop pretending." I grinned as he turned and shot me a glare, but as he did so, the kayak rocked, scaring the crap out of me. "Jeez!" I shouted, "Don't rock the boat! We almost fell into the water!"

A slow smile spread onto his face. "Did we?" He turned again, causing the boat to rock again, and I grabbed both sides frantically. "I didn't feel anything."

"Daniel Castellano, I swear if you keep—"

And then he rocked it again, eliciting a scream from my mouth.

"What's wrong, Min? You afraid of a little water?"

"Actually, I am. I don't know how to swim, so if you tip us over in this water, then I will drown and you'll have to face the hordes of angry people who'll be at my funeral and live the rest of your days in guilt over _murdering_ such a promising, hot young doctor."

He looked at me thoughtfully, lips pursed to the side, then rocked the boat again, making me cry out in an overly dramatic whimper.

"Thank God you have a life vest on, huh?" Danny said with a laugh.

"Hey! Catch up, you two!" Jeff yelled from a ways ahead.

Danny gripped his paddle now. "Alright, enough fun. Your break is over. Let's start paddling again. And put some back in it so we can actually move."

"Whatever, old man. 'Put some back into it'." I grumbled, moving to pick up my paddle but somehow, someway, it slipped from my hands and landed in the water. "Oh no," I said with a long groan. "Ugh, it's getting away! I can't reach it!"

"Just lean out a little, it's not that far," He commented, so I leaned out, but only my fingertips were brushing against it.

"Danny, it's going towards you. You grab it!"

And so he reached out, but did so while I was still leaning out of the kayak.

"Danny! Don't!" I shouted as the kayak began tipping to the right, but it was too late. The kayak flipped over and we splashed into the lake.

I sloshed around, screaming, while Danny laughed. Jeff called out, "Are you two okay?"

"Totally fine!" Danny replied.

"No," I yelled, "No we're not! I'm drowning!"

This only caused Danny to laugh harder. "Stand up, Lahiri."

I stopped my splashing and stood, the water coming up to my waist.

"Okay, well," I said after a pause, "I guess I overreacted a bit."

"A bit?" Danny stood too, coming to stand in front of me. I was annoyed that I was soaking wet, but then Danny grinned, and I couldn't stop the smile that spread onto my face. I tried to, I really did! But my lips started twitching and quivering like I was insane, so I just let it be and laughed at the ridiculousness of it all.

"Hey, you guys should probably head on back to the cabins and get dry! We still have a ways to go, and this breeze might get you all sick." Laurel said. "I hate that you'll miss out on the view!"

"Eh, probably for the best," Danny said, waving to them as we dragged the boat through the water to shore. "It's supposed to be romantic or whatever—that should be something shared between couples. Sheryl and Rob need it."

The happiness I felt slightly dimmed, but I kept the smile on my face. I thought it'd be nice to share the moment with Danny… you know, as friends. But he had a point. It was probably a breathtaking sight that you'd want to share with your true love, not with the person you steadily tried to avoid for two months.

* * *

"Okay, I've got to take a shower. I probably was swimming with the Loch Ness monster." I said as we entered the empty cabin, trying to act nonchalant about the fact that my leopard print bra was showing through the white blouse I wore. I hadn't expected to go swimming. If I had I would've worn my push up so at least it would look like I had a chance in a wet t-shirt contest.

Danny hadn't peeped down once, much to my surprised disappointment. I should be grateful that he had enough self-control not to look at my awesome, massive boobs that would have been enhanced by a push-up bra. I silently cursed myself for not wearing one.

"Firstly, the Loch Ness monster resides in Scotland—it wouldn't be lazing around some manmade lake in the Tennessee mountains."

"You would know that," I grumbled.

"And secondly, you didn't swim anywhere because the water wasn't deep enough for that." That egotistical smile popped onto his face.

"Whatever Danny. I feel yucky and cold so I'm going to take a nice, long shower."

He walked towards the door. "Well, I'm going to explore some of the other trails. Might as well get a little dirtier before I shower. I'll be back in an hour. After we can make lunch."

I smiled. I liked our daily routine of making lunch together. It was nice. "Alright, have fun. Go 'explore,' Castellano. So lame."

He grinned. "Maybe I'll go discover this honey yellow black bear you claim exists."

I put my hands on my hips and rolled my eyes. "Ha-ha, very funny… it's real, Danny!"

He backed up towards the door. "Oh, I believe you, and I'll go find it now."

The smile came back. "Okay, you go do that. Bye."

He waved and left the cabin, and I went into my room, content grin on my face as I stepped into my steaming, hot shower. While washing and conditioning my hair with cucumber scented shampoo and conditioner, my thoughts drifted to the ridiculous amount of progress we had made. Just a week ago, I had stepped out of the shower and busted my ass because of the pent up anger and hurt I felt towards Danny. But now that we had finally _communicated_, we now were having the time of our lives, and I even wanted to stay out in nature longer just to be with him!

Thirty minutes into my shower, I reached for my travel sized body wash to see that there was nothing left in it. Of course I had run out, after being out in the wilderness daily, I always felt grimy and practically scrubbed my skin off every night. And now I was out of soap.

_Sheryl_.

She had to have some in the guest bathroom that the rest of the house shared.

I didn't want to turn off the shower and have to go through heating up the water again, so I left it running while I placed a towel around my body, not bothering to wrap my hair in the soft, towel wrap I brought.

_She won't mind if I borrow some of her body wash_, I told myself as I walked through the empty house and to the bathroom. Humming, I opened the door and stepped in, only to stumble and almost bust my ass, of course.

Standing in front of me was Danny in only a towel that hung low on his hips, his body wet from the shower he must've just taken. His body was lean and muscular, abs defined but not overbearing.

Just how I liked it.

I allowed my eyes to travel up his body to his face, which held a horrified expression, snapping me out of my dazed state.

"Jesus, Mindy! What the fuck?" he yelled suddenly, clinging to the towel now. As he did so, his arms seemed to bulge as if he was flexing.

Bulge.

The thought made my eyes flick to his nether regions until I forced myself to squeeze my eyes shut and look away, letting out an incomprehensible noise that was supposed to convey my shock and joy and confusion at the variety of emotions overwhelming me.

"Mindy, get out!"

I hated that I was reacting this way. Typically I'd have a sassy remark to make at his embarrassed expense, but I was the one actually feeling embarrassed as I became aware that I too was only in a towel.

My hands shot up to cling to the top of my towel, allowing my arms to cover my breasts as if they were exposed.

"Mindy, you gotta get out of here!" Danny shouted again.

Finally words formed on my lips. "Sorry! Crap, sorry, sorry, sorry! I-I just need to get body wash."

"Where? Where is it?"

"In the shower, on the ledge. It's Sheryl's."

He turned his back to me and leaned down, and I took in his impressive backside. It seemed firmed.

I jerked my head away, shunning myself for the thought while squeezing my eyes closed again.

"Is this it?" He held up Old Spice.

I scowled and, not wanting to put myself through the torture of staring at Danny's glorious body, and through the torture of having to admit that, I shoved passed him, underestimating the size of the bathroom. And there we were again, standing almost as close as we had earlier that week during the apple passing activity. Except now we were wearing only towels, and there was no apple to offer any space.

I inhaled a deep breath as I paused in front of him, bringing my head up to meet his eyes. He was staring down at me, his adam's apple moving as he swallowed quietly. I wanted to say something, or to just move, get the body wash, and leave so this awkward moment could pass.

But I couldn't.

I was glued in place, staring into Danny's dark, brown eyes that I knew held so many secrets that he felt he couldn't release. In that moment I wanted him to tell me everything—his regrets, his passions, his desires…

"OH MY!"

We jumped apart, Danny bumping into the sink while my back loudly hit the wall.

"_Ouch_," I said, rubbing my shoulder. Sheryl had just walked through the bathroom's open door, a wide grin showing how enthralled she was to see us standing so closely to each other.

"I'll leave you two to finish up in here," she winked and began to walk away before turning back, "unless… you'd like some company?"

"Ew, gross, crazy lady!" I yelled with my face contorted in digust while Danny simultaneously said, "Okay, get outta here!"

She shuffled away with a giggle, leaving Danny and me to turn our gazes back to each other. We let out nervous laughs, snapping our eyes elsewhere quickly. "Sorry I barged in. You said you'd be gone for an hour and—"

"Yeah, the other trails are closed off. Something about the weather. Skies have gotten way cloudier in the past 30 minutes. Big storm probably brewing." He responded, hands on his hips, those arms flexed again. He had to be doing it on purpose. They never looked this incredible.

I averted my eyes to my feet. "Oh, that sucks… Uh, well," I shuffled towards the shower, Danny stepping towards the door with an apology, "guess I'll just get this even though now I'm kind of afraid to use it. Who would've known Sheryl was the other kind of freak, too?"

Danny laughed but didn't speak.

I stepped to the doorway, and he pressed his back against the door, both of us trying with everything in our power to avoid contact. "Okay, well, yeah. Thanks," I stammered once out of the bathroom, still refusing to meet his eyes.

By the tremor in his voice, I assumed he was doing the same. "Y-yeah, well… Knock next time. Even when you don't know if someone's in the bathroom."

I rolled my eyes and chanced a look at him. "Okay, sir. Will do, mister. Thanks for the lecture."

"Ah, shut up," he smirked.

And as soon as I saw his body again, I knew I had to get out of there. Quickly I power walked back to my room, slammed the door, then ran for the shower. I needed to cool down. ASAP. I didn't want to analyze the way my heart leapt at the sight of Danny, not just his immaculate body, but his eyes. They held so much I wanted to know, and it was so frustrating and confusing that I didn't understand why I wanted to know everything about the man.

"Stop, don't overanalyze it," I mumbled to myself, finally washing my body in the cool water. "He's hot. You've always known that. That's all this is."

And then I proceeded to use as much of Sheryl's body wash as I wanted.

* * *

"And here's to the progress all of you have made, individually and as a team! Congrats! And now, let's party!" Jeff yelled, and we all clinked our shot glasses together before downing the tequila.

We had initially made plans to head into town and go to a bar, but the storm watch prevented us from doing that. Instead we were in Laurel and Jeff's cabin, drinking and talking and alternating playing music from our iPhones—or Droids in Laurel's case. A shame.

This was my third shot and third glass of wine, and I was absolutely feeling tipsy. Sheryl and Rob were dancing and making out while Jeff, Laurel, Danny, and I stood by the island, talking and laughing.

"I really admire both of you for being OB/GYNs. It's such a demanding job—and you're handling little lives everyday. You're basically delivering our future," Laurel said to Danny and me.

Except, she wasn't saying it to Danny and me. She was staring straight at Danny, a dreamy look in her eyes.

Suddenly I didn't like her.

"Yeah, it's so rewarding," I interjected, nodding my head energetically. "And I'm so lucky to be working with this guy, everyday." I patted Danny's shoulder and smiled up at him, a smile that he returned.

Until Laurel rubbed her hand on his other shoulder and said softly, eyes still only on Danny, "Yeah, you really are."

I moved my hand and turned to my wine glass, downing the rest.

Suddenly a bachata song came. Danny clapped his hands and said, "Oh, I love this."

Laurel immediately stepped up to him. "You know bachata?"

"Of course I know bachata!"

She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the middle of the dance floor. Danny stiffly placed one hand on her waist while holding her other hand, but as the music took him over, the sensuality came, too. Soon enough the two were pressed closely together, moving perfectly in sync.

I snapped my head from the sight after realizing I had been staring at them with my lips in a tight line. Without a second thought, I poured a shot a tequila, which Jeff joined me in, obviously wasted. And as the two continued to dance back to back to back to the damn bachata music, I kept throwing back shot after shot after shot.

When I was on my sixth, and the drinks were definitely going to my head, Danny came over and asked, "You want to dance? I can teach you if you don't know."

I shook my head indignantly, trying my hardest to convey that I was totally okay—nonchalant as ever. "No, no. You and Laurel look super good together, actually. You know she's single. Looking for true love. M-maybe she's the one, Daniel!"

He sighed. "Alright, how many shots have you had?" He asked.

I turned away from him and attempted to pour another glass of wine, but totally sloshed it all over the counter. Danny immediately laughed and took the bottle from me. "Alright, why don't I get you to your bed before you and Sheryl become drinking buddies."

"HEY!" I shouted, pointing my finger at him, "I resent that."

"I know you do," he draped an arm around my waist and put mine around his. "Hey, I'm gonna take Mindy back to the cabin." He announced to everyone.

"Oh no, is she sick?"

"No, I'm not sick. I-I'm a heavyweight boxer when it comes to drinking." I spoke up. "A-and I'm here. You… you don't have to say 'she'."

"We'll see ya in the morn before your taxi comes, Mindy," Jeff said, a wide grin spread onto his face.

"Come back quickly, Danny," Laurel called after him.

We left the cabin and walked back to ours. "You know," I said staring up at the dark sky. There were no stars because the clouds were blocking them. A storm was definitely brewing indeed. "I hate tequila."

"Do you? That's all you drank tonight." Danny said, his voice amused.

"I know but… I like the _ritual_ of tequila. The salt, the lime. It's fun. But tequila is disgusting and gets me super drunk."

"Does it? Huh, I hadn't noticed," he said, getting a light hit on the chest from me.

We got into the empty cabin and he guided me to the bed.

I flopped on it, kicking my shoes off with the opposite foot. I hadn't noticed he disappeared until he was back with a cup of water.

I sat up straight and stared up at him. He was wearing a navy, thermal shirt with dark jeans and looked extremely handsome. He hadn't shaved this week and had a bit of shadow on his jaw and above his lip. It made him look rugged and wild and perfect in this environment.

"You're very handsome, Danny," I said out loud.

"What?" he asked, clearly taken aback by my statement.

I rolled over onto my side, supporting my head with my elbow and keeping my eyes on Danny. "You're handsome. I've told you that before, right?"

"Maybe once, sure."

"Well you are. Y-you're nice to look at."

The room started to spin.

"Ughhh," I groaned, dropping my head into the crook of my arm.

"Here, drink this," he said, hurriedly grabbing the water and bringing it to me.

I sat up, trying to ignore the fact that the room was spinning, and tried to reach for the cup, but he flicked my hand away easily and sat beside me, placing the glass to my lips.

While he was focused on not spilling any of the water on me as I sipped, I continued to stare at him, loving how hard he was concentrating to make sure I was okay and taken care of.

_It'd be nice to have him take care of me all the time. I could take care of him, too, I bet._

"Ugh, that's the liquor talking," I said, not realizing I spoke out loud.

"What?" Danny asked, pulling the glass away.

I stared at him again, contemplating whether telling him my thoughts would damage the new friendship we were building.

But instead I placed my head in the crook of his neck. He immediately placed an arm around my waist. This felt so nice.

After a comfortable silence, I finally said quietly, "I'm really happy we're friends again, Danny... I missed you."

I heard him exhale, and that comfortable silence fell between us again.

His hand began to rub my back, and I closed my eyes. It was just what I needed.

"I missed you, too, Min."

I felt myself drifting to sleep and mumbled, "Are you going back to the party? You can, if you want."

He shrugged. "Nah, wouldn't be that fun without my teammate, right?"

I laughed softly, happy and relieved that that was his answer.

"Thanks, Danny."

"For what?"

"I don't know. For taking care of me... For being you."

"Of course, Mindy."

And right before I dozed off, releasing a sigh of pure contentment, I felt Danny place a chaste kiss on my forehead.

* * *

**A/N: And that was Chapter 6! I really hope you likedddd. So much fun to write haha. Please feel free to leave a review, and let me know your thoughts. Love hearing from you guys! Until next chapter ;)**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **So first off, THANK YOU for the amazing reviews! You're incredible. Second off... sorry, sorry, SORRY that this chapter is so late! I actually wrote it a while ago, but it was so terrible, I had to rethink what I wanted to happen. And inspiration didn't hit until recently, so here it is now! Better late than never, right? Yeah, let's go with that :).

**Warning: Sexual content.**

* * *

**Fonder**

**Chapter Seven**

**Brewed Storm**

* * *

Mindy's POV

I was burning up.

And I couldn't move.

Or at least I didn't want to, despite how freaking hot it was under the heavy comforter.

But I knew if I moved, the person beside me on top of the comforter would move, and oddly enough, I didn't want him to do that.

About half an hour had passed since I woke up to see Danny Castellano beside me, his face only inches away from mine, his arm lackadaisically strewn across my waist. While I was tucked tightly in the covers, he was on top of the covers, the sounds being the rain beating down outside and the unsteady breathing coming from his slightly parted mouth. He looked comfortable despite his inconsistent breaths, still wearing the clothes from the night before.

The night before.

"Shit," I whispered, remembering how drunk I had gotten. After witnessing Laurel throw herself at Danny, I remembered taking at least six tequila shots and then Danny taking me back to our cabin. The rest was a blur. I couldn't remember if Danny putting me to bed went over smoothly or if I had resisted or said something embarrassing.

I bit my lip as a bead of sweat rolled down my cheek.

I had to move. It was getting way too hot.

My eyes shot back to Danny's peaceful face. His lips slightly curled up, showing an uncharacteristic smile. It was pleasant. And his usual, tense face, with the furrowed brows and tight lips, now seemed smoother in this relaxed state. I liked this Danny, who seemed without a care in the world. He looked like the kind of guy who was spontaneous—someone who randomly went bungee jumping or knew how to dance bachata.

A smile twitched on my lips at the thought of him dancing last night. He was really smooth. There was no knowing that the man could dance and move his body the way he did.

I sighed, willing my thoughts not to drift to anything concerning his body and finally decided I had to get out of the bed. It was too hot.

Trying to move as little as possible, I began to turn my back to him so I could slide out of bed unnoticed, but Danny stirred. I slammed my eyes closed and froze in place. Danny sat up and stretched, a large yawn erupting from his mouth. Then there was silence. What was he doing?

Fingertips suddenly, but gently, brushed against my cheek. I hoped my face remained calm and didn't reveal the shock and surge of pleasure created by his touch. Softly I felt Danny brush a stray strand of hair behind my ear, his fingers lingering.

Exhaling deeply, he removed his hand, and stood from the bed. A moment later, the door creaked open quietly then closed just the same.

I jumped up in bed and let go of the breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

What the hell happened last night? I mean, something had to have happened for him to have caressed my cheek the way he had. He never would do that if nothing happened between us... then again, I could've just as easily had something on my face, and he could have been politely trying to get it off without waking me.

That would be sweet, too, though. But if that wasn't the case, then what was?

We couldn't have had sex. My body would know... unless sex with Danny had been bad. But I highly doubted that if the bulge I saw the day before was any indication of what he was working with.

The Bulge.

I stripped the comforter from my legs and hopped out of the bed. _You are over thinking, _I thought to myself. _Get it together! And get his bulge out of your head!_

Hurriedly I grabbed the clothes I planned to travel in that day and made my way into the bathroom, slamming the door behind me.

Standing under the shower head, letting water fall onto my head as I lathered my hair in the last of my conditioner, I thought of how much I was going to miss the mountains, not because it was fun hiking at least two miles a day, or fun just generally being in nature, but because I was here with Danny, making up for all the lost time. No question I missed the practice and my patients, but I was afraid of what would happen when we returned. What if Danny decided he wanted to go back his mundane routine when we were back in the city? What if all the progress we made in our friendship was reserved for this remote environment where he only had me to talk to anyway? What would become of us?

A knock sounded on the door.

"Hey, uh, Mindy. I'm making breakfast. Do you want pancakes or waffles?" It was Danny.

"Waffles... Oh! With blueberries!"

He chuckled. "Blueberry waffles it is."

I smiled, a warm, fuzzy feeling washing over me at the idea of Danny making us breakfast. He was sweet under that tough guy exterior. He knew how to treat a lady.

I turned the shower off, wanting to hurry and get dressed for my breakfast with Danny. I blow dried my hair, choosing not to flat iron it as I usaully would and instead wear it in its natural waves. I parted the hair down the middle, letting my locks frame my round face. Briefly I thought of Casey, and his strong suggestions that I keep my hair short. He did it because it was in my best interest out in Haiti, but I had found every reason to get out of the relationship we had.

And now I was here. With Danny.

I couldn't control, or understand, the smile that grew onto my face.

After dressing in my travel gear—which consisted of a cute, yellow off-the-shoulder sweater with Victoria's Secret PINK printed on the front, black yoga pants, and white knee high socks I intended to wear with my boots—I came from the bathroom and found Danny sitting up in bed with two trays of breakfast. He smirked at me. "Took you long enough. Food's getting cold."

I grinned at the man. "Danny! This smells amazing! I could've helped."

He laughed. "I don't know, Min. The only thing I know you make is grilled cheese, and you tend to overcook even that."

I snapped my fingers and went to the mini fridge, pulling out the only thing in it: the bottle of champagne. "Mimosas! I can make a mean mimosa."

He raised his brows. "You sure you want to be drinking? I know you have to have a hangover after last night."

"The best remedy for a hangover is more of the stuff that gave you the hangover." I wiggled my brows as Danny shook his head.

"That's ludicrous, Mindy."

"Shut up, Danny, and—" the cork popped as I twisted it, champagne sloshing onto my hand, "—enjoy our last day in Gatlinburg with me!" I poured some of the champagne into his cup of orange juice then some into mine before settling beside him on the bed.

Danny held his cup to his lips but paused. "Why don't you make a toast? T-that's your thing, right?"

I smiled and raised my glass, ecstatic that he didn't ridicule me the way he typically would for my enjoyment of making epic toasts. "Yes, it is. Um..." I took a second to think of what to say, to express the wide range of emotions I had experienced with him in this week, but instead simply said, "To our last hour in the mountains. It's been fun, Castellano. Really."

He held my eyes for a brief moment that seemed to last hours before clinking his glass to mine. As soon as our glasses met, a loud crack of lightening sounded through the air. We froze, cups still pressed together, our eyes meeting again.

"That was unsettling," Danny spoke, and right on cue, thunder boomed and the power completely went out, making me shriek.

We sat in silence, the only sound the pouring rain slamming against the window outside.

"Mindy? Danny? You two okay?" Rob called from the other room.

"Uh, yeah! What about you guys?" Danny responded.

"Good! Looks like we won't be catching our flights!" Cheryl yelled.

"No... doesn't look like it." Danny said, then shifted on the bed. "Well... guess making that toast was a bad idea."

"Danny," I spoke, my voice quivering, "I cannot see you. Or anything. And I can see myself freaking out in about two minutes and forty six seconds."

Danny reached forward, his hand colliding into my face. "Ah! Danny, what the hell!"

"Sorry, sorry!" He exclaimed, "I was trying to comfort you!" He awkwardly patted his hand down my cheek and to my shoulder, continuing the motion until, annoyed, I slapped his hand away.

"Okay. Give me a second to think," Danny said. "This is a freaking couples retreat. Romance is the theme, basically. So—"

I finished his thought. "There's nothing more romantic than candles! And I know just where they are!"

I stepped off of the bed and, unable to see and paranoid, got down on my hands and knees and began feeling my way to the bathroom.

"Mindy, are you on the ground?"

"Yes, Danny, yes I am crawling on the ground because, if you haven't noticed, I have a tendency to fall flat on my ass, and being in the dark wouldn't help my chances."

"Yeah, I wouldn't wanna see you gripping your ass again," he said with a chuckle, causing me to both blush and scowl. I didn't want to even think about the times we spent ignoring or hating each other when this week had been so perfect.

"You know, I can't believe you had the audacity to scold me yesterday about knocking on the door when you don't do it, either." I said, finally reaching the bathroom.

"Hey! That was one time!"

I didn't bother responding. In the bathroom I reached under the sink and pulled out the romantic basket of candles and sealed rose petals. I had considered taking a bath with it earlier in the week, but the thought of doing it alone when it was for couples depressed me. So I planned to pack it in my suitcase and bring it home in hopes that I'd use it one day soon.

But here I was, using it sooner than I anticipated, and with Danny, of course.

I made my way back to the room and said, "Okay, I've got em. And some rose petals."

"Rose petals?"

"It came with the candles." I began placing the basket on the nightstand until I froze. "Shit. We don't have matches!" I rummaged through the basket, feeling around for matches but winding up empty handed.

"Don't worry." Danny dug in his pocket then flicked his lighter. "This will do."

I furrowed my brows, happy to be able to see his face even if it was lit creepily by the small flame. "Why didn't you pull that out sooner? When I was freaking out, maybe?"

He shrugged. "I didn't want you to see I had a lighter on me. You'd jump to conclusions."

He was right. My eyes widened now as realization hit me. "Danny! Don't tell me you're smoking again!"

"See, jumping to conclusions just like I said. Technically I haven't stopped smoking, but I did cut back. Hand me a candle."

I passed him one while continuing to drill him, "Well have you smoked while we've been here? Out in this beautiful landscape of nature? H-have you been endangering the forest and its mythical creatures with your nasty habit?"

He lit the candle then passed it back to me, where I in turn passed him a second candle to light. "Is that your perception of the outdoors? Full of mythical creatures?" He smirked. "Is this honey yellow black bear you created one of them?"

I placed the last candle on the nightstand and smiled. "So I guess that's our new inside joke, huh?"

He took a seat on the bed, and I prepared myself for one of his standoffish remarks but instead he nodded. "Yeah. I guess it is."

I took my seat beside him comfortably. "Huh... maybe we should've offered a candle to Sheryl and Rob."

Danny shook his head as muffled moans emerged through the thin walls. "Yeah, I really don't think they care." He looked down at the breakfast and sighed. "Well, I guess this was futile."

"No!" I exclaimed, "not at all! I'm still starving."

"But the eggs and waffles are cold. It's going to be disgusting."

"Danny, I love my food cold. I love it warm, too... I just love food."

He shook his head. "The unpickiest eater I've ever met."

"And you're the pickiest." I countered, taking a bite of my blueberry waffle. I grinned at him. "Still super delicious, warm or cold."

He took a bite too and shrugged. "Yeah, it's not so bad."

"Not to toot your own horn, right?" I smirked at him, and he returned it.

As we continued to eat and have playful banter, thoughts of last night wouldn't stop nagging at me. I really couldn't remember anything that happened, and I couldn't continue sitting there like it wasn't eating away at me.

With our trays now on the ground, and the two of us finishing off the champagne, I turned to him and asked, "Okay, what did I do last night?"

He raised a brow as a slow smile appeared on his face. He looked a bit evil in the lighting. I wasn't sure if he was going to tell me good or bad news. "Wait, you don't remember?"

"I mean, some parts, like taking a million shots and then you walking me back here... and that's it."

"Oh wow," he seemed shocked and ran his hand through his hair with raised brows.

"Oh my God," I said, mini panic attack starting to set in. "What did I do? What did I _say_?"

He laughed. "Relax, Min, you didn't do anything crazy. You... you actually just fell asleep on my shoulder. Nice and peaceful. You didn't get belligerent or anything."

"Oh, thank goodness. I'm totally a belligerent drunk."

"I was thoroughly shocked," Danny admitted, grinning at me. "But no... everything went smoothly. Uh, actually..."

"What?" I said, raising a brow at him. His grin had become somewhat cocky.

"Apparently you think I'm very handsome."

My mouth dropped. "I did not say that."

"Yeah, you did! You said, 'You're nice to look at,' verbatim."

I laughed at myself, slapping my forehead with the palm of my head. "Oh gosh, now your head is gonna get bigger than it already is."

"Just a little," he joked.

I smiled softly at him, so extremely happy to be able to just relax here and joke with him like this. Besides, it was the truth. He was extremely handsome, and seemed even more so in the dim light of the candles. The evil aura he was putting off earlier was replaced with something else... something new.

"Whatever, I saw you checking me out in my towel. You think I look good, too" I said, jokingly shoving his shoulder. But instead of moving my hand and changing the subject, which was what my mind screamed for me to do, I let my hand linger, letting it fall slowly down his arm until it landed on the bed, next to his hand.

Danny stared at my hand for a moment, the easygoing atmosphere suddenly shattered by my action. The temperature felt like it shot up 100 degrees, and my breath started coming in shorter.

Where the hell did that even come from? Was I trying to seduce this guy? Because it definitely seemed that way to me, so it had to seem the same way to him.

_These random feelings for Danny have to stem from being in the mountains, _I thought to myself. There was no way I had felt this way for him all of this time. It had to just be the mountains. Besides, I hadn't been intimate, as in kissed or touched, someone in a month, and hadn't had sex in who knew how long, and I had been trapped with Danny 24/7 on this romantic couples therapy trip, and now we were stuck in a cabin, candles burning, storm in full force with no electricity to distract us. The only distraction we had was each other so...

So why not take advantage of this opportunity the way Rob and Sheryl were?

My heart began racing. I couldn't believe I was actually thinking of making a move on him but...

There was no turning back now.

Swallowing, I let my fingertrips graze the back of his hand before letting them settle on top of his.

"Mindy," he said, his voice raspy sounding somewhat pained. "What are you—"

"Don't. Don't say anything." I whispered, leaning closer to him so our foreheads were nearly touching. "Just... kiss me."

He let out a deep sigh, and I lifted my head to meet his eyes.

They seemed to say everything he couldn't, and that desire and passion I longed to see during our bathroom encounter was screaming now, and at the top of its lungs.

A second later, his lips came crashing down onto my own. I melted into the kiss, instantly losing myself as my mind finally silenced for once and let me enjoy this moment with Danny. His fingers spread through my hair and cradled the back of my head as he deepend the kiss, pulling our mouths as close as possible, while his other hand wrapped around my thigh, pulling it over his leg.

Soon enough, I was straddling him, my hands in his hair, thick and soft as I predicted, as the passionate kiss seemed to last forever.

I couldn't hold it in. I let a moan tumble from my mouth into his, and that seemed to trigger something in him. In one motion, he flipped me so I was on my back and he was between my legs, hovering over me with a hungry look in his eyes.

I loved it.

"Danny," I breathed, overwhelmed by the various emotions that were bubbling inside of me.

"No," he said, "Remember? Don't say anything."

"But—"

And he shut me up by pressing his lips to mine again, nipping my bottom one with his teeth before devouring them again, eliciting another moan from me. I felt his hardness press against my thigh, and ran my hands up his chest, pulling the bottom of his shirt with me. He leaned away only for a moment to strip the cloth from his body before returning to me, lips falling back into their natural place against mine.

He reached for my shirt but I leaned away from him, then, suddenly self-conscious and afraid. I wasn't in the best of shape—never really had been—and wasn't sure if I was ready for Danny to see me in all of my imperfect glory.

"What's wrong?" he whispered.

"Nothing, I just..." I let my words trail off, but Danny gently smiled at me and pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. I met his eyes.

"You are beautiful, Mindy Lahiri. Sexy. And no one knows it better than you. I'm just grateful you're letting me see you. The real you."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

His smile never faltered. "As much as you talk about me always having my guard up... you walk around with yours up, too. And as much as I like Beyonce Pad Thai and her, uh, her 'fiereceness'... I prefer the woman right here... unafraid to show her insecurity... being vulnerable with me."

"Yeah?" I whispered.

"Yeah."

I couldn't believe he opened up to me about being vulnerable, in turn being vulnerable himself. My heart started racing, and sped up even more when his lips came back to mine, the kiss gentle this time, caring. I held his face in my hands while sitting up so we were facing each other, then let my lips veer from his, trailing kisses up his cheek and behind his ear, my lips barely grazing his skin, sending a shiver through his body. I continued kissing my way down his neck, and with every kiss, his fingers seemed to dig into my hips harder and harder.

"Mindy," he groaned, "you gotta let me know where this is going."

I didn't stop. "I don't know. Wherever it takes us."

And we were kissing again, simply caught up in the moment, finally let ourselves go with each other, until voices outside pulled me out of Danny and Mindy Land. It was then that I noticed the rain had long ago stopped, and the sun was actually beaming through the trees. I heard Sheryl and Rob laughing, and unraveled my body from Danny's to look out of the window. They stood there with their bags, Laurel and Jeff alongside them.

"Oh, wow, I guess it's time to go." I said facing Danny again, looking at the blinking alarm clock on the night stand. No less than an hour had to have passed.

"Nooo," he groaned, wrapping his arms around my waist and burying his face into my chest.

I laughed lifting his face. "I can't believe I'm going to say this... but I don't want to leave."

His eyes fell onto my lips, and he pecked them before looking back into my eyes. "Me either."

We heard the front door open and Jeff call, "Mindy! Danny! Taxi's here!"

We didn't move.

"Welp..." I said with a long sigh. "I guess this is it."

He straightened and took my hand in his. "Listen... we really did make some progress while we were here, and, well... I don't know what this means, but I know it felt good. And I'm so happy to be friends or whatever with you, a-and I just hope this, what we just did, doesn't ruin anything for you. And that from this point forward, we can... I don't know, continue or whatever."

I grinned at him. "Look at you, _communicating_ with me."

He rolled his eyes. "Come on, I'm trying here."

"Okay, okay, sorry. I would love to continue to explore whatever this thing is. If you don't get all weird, then I won't." I said, squeezing his hand before letting it go. "Now I'm going to go fix my hair before the plane ride."

While I primped myself back up, Danny grabbed my bags and took them outside. While I was alone, I finally took a deep breath and allowed myself to breathe. My heart finally began to slow down, and I couldn't help the euphoric sensation coursing through my body. We didn't know what we were doing, but it really felt right. I hoped these feelings weren't reserved for Gatlinburg, because I wanted to take them back home to New York and see where this could lead.

After I was fixed up I made my way to the waiting taxi, where Rob and Sheryl were already settled inside, extremely lovey-dovey with each other. Danny stepped away from the trunk and stood beside me in front of Jeff and Laurel. I hugged Laurel first and said, "Thanks for everything. It was so nice meeting you."

Then I turned to Jeff and said the same. As I made my way to the cab, though, I turned back to see Danny wasn't behind me. In fact, Danny was still embracing Laurel in a hug. Unable to control it, my stomach dropped in pure jealousy and foreboding. This was no normal goodbye.

Laurel leaned away from the hug just to lean forward again and place a lingering kiss on Danny's cheek. My stomach churned more.

"Last night was fun," she said with a coy smile.

What the hell?

"I can't wait to do it again in a few weeks."

_What the hell_?

And then she pecked his lips. The same lips that I had kissed so passionately moments before.

Danny stood stiffly, looking glued in place as if he dreaded to turn around and face me.

What the fuck was going on?

Finally he turned and met my eyes, and guilt was written all over his face.

I felt absolutely sick, hating myself for hooking up with him.

What a waste of a week.

* * *

**A/N: Oh no! I hope none of you hate me! But that was Chapter 7! Aren't you excited to see what happens when they're back in New York? I'll let you know soon in Chapter 8 :).**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **It's Sunday haha! Yeah, I expected plenty of mixed reviews for that last chapter haha. Onward with Chapter 8!

* * *

**Fonder**

**Chapter Eight**

**Heartbeat**

* * *

Mindy's POV

_Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump._

The sound of my beating heart seemed to be the only noise I could hear on the painfully long ride to the airport. Despite the loud arguing between Sheryl and Rob, and the classic rock playing on the radio, I only could hear my heart beating wildly in my ears and feel it dropping to the pit of my stomach, though as a doctor I knew it wasn't the case.

_That's right. You are a doctor, _I reminded myself, despising the loss of confidence I was feeling. Just moments before, after my intense, passionate, hardcore make out with Danny, I felt like I had the world in the palm of my hand! We had conquered our problems and were friends again, and though I probably was jumping ahead of myself, I thought maybe we had the potential to explore each other beyond a friendship. But after seeing Laurel lean up to kiss him so intimately...

My heart started racing again at the thought.

_A hot, young doctor, _I continued, closing my eyes and resting the crown of my head on the headrest. Was I really becoming a person whose career created her self-esteem?

When I slowly opened my eyes I saw Danny staring down at me. I tried not to scowl.

"Mindy, will you let me explain?"

I took a deep breath and turned to face him. Earlier I quietly refused to sit beside him and made myself comfortable in the passenger seat to avoid talking to him, but now he had squeezed in the front seat of the van next to the preoccupied couple to speak with me. I wasn't ready to deal with it, however. "Danny my pride is hurt, and unless you can say you didn't hook up with Laurel last night then turn around and hook up with me, I really don't want to talk to you right now... Can you say otherwise?"

I hated that a small part of me was hopeful that he'd deny having ever touched the crazy lady, but that feeling was quickly extinguished when he hesitated a moment too long. I turned back around, shaking my head. I felt used, like I had so many times with other guys before. Danny was supposed to be different. I never suspected to feel this way with him.

"Min, well, technically—"

"Stop, just... don't," I said, still facing forward. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the seat again. "Let me enjoy my last moments in Gatlinburg."

I felt him still behind me, close, and I cursed myself for the swirl of emotions I felt at his mere presence.

No, I wouldn't get pulled in by another guy, because that's what he was at this point—just another guy.

* * *

"Wait... WHAT?"

I poured my third glass of wine before handing the bottle to Gwen, who stared at me in pure shock. I had arrived back in New York an hour and a half before, and Gwen, seeing my frantic text that she haul ass to my place ASAP, was here getting updated on my week from bliss and hell. Who knew they were located in the same place?

"Are you seriously going to make me say it again?" I groaned, taking a gulp of the wine. I poured myself some more.

"Yes, because it's unfreakingbelievable!"

"Well, it happened. Daniel Castellano and I hooked up... and it was beyond amazing."

"So I was right!"

"Right about what, weirdo?"

"About you having feelings for Danny! I called it! I didn't understand why you were so worked up about him ignoring you. But I thought you didn't have feelings for anyone after Casey abandoned you in Haiti, so it didn't click. Guess you got over Casey quicker than I expected."

I froze, then slowly put my wine glass down. I forgot I hadn't told her the whole truth about Casey and me. Biting my lip, I knew I needed to come clean so I could get her advice, because I was thoroughly confused about the entire situation and needed her guidance. "About that... Casey didn't actually abandon me."

She narrowed her eyes. "Wait... what?"

"I lied, I'm sorry. I just..." I sighed, casting my gaze to my feet adorned in fuzzy, neon pink socks. Telling her the truth just made me feel crappier. Made me feel even less mature than I thought I'd become in the past week.

"What? I'm so confused. Why'd you lie about that? D-do you want me to hate Casey anyway, because I will if you want." She scooted from the chair to the couch to sit beside me.

"No, I don't want you to hate Casey. _I_ don't hate Casey. Actually, he didn't do anything wrong. He loved me, but I just wasn't in love with him. So I broke it off and left Haiti."

Gwen let out a long sigh and looked up at the ceiling. "I don't get you, Mindy. Casey was perfect! He adored everything about you. It's like... I don't know, like you sabotage your relationships."

"And _that's_ why I didn't want to tell you the truth!" I lifted my eyes to stare at her with furrowed brows. "Don't you think I'm mad enough at myself? I-I have dated some real douches and rightfully have disposed of them—well, if they didn't dispose of me first—and when a good guy comes along, why couldn't I just love him? Why couldn't I just _force_ myself to feel what I'm supposed to feel when a hottie like Casey is interested in me, and loves me? But I didn't have butterflies with him! He didn't make me feel anything. And I want to feel something when I'm with someone who I plan to settle down with and start a family with. And I knew you wouldn't understand that!"

She sat taken aback before sighing. "Well, then maybe you're right. Maybe I don't understand."

I rolled my eyes and finished off my glass of wine before shoving my hand into a bag of baked potato chips. "Fine, you don't get it. Which is what I expected from a woman who found her idea of Prince Charming fresh out of college."

"Okay so I was lucky but still... I think you're insane," she said, leaning forward to look at me again. "And I do think in the past you've sabotaged some potentially good relationships, but if you ended it because you know you have feelings for Danny, then I support you. I'm always on your side."

"Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves," I quickly grumbled.

"Oh no. What happened?"

"Well, after the fantastic makeout session, I found out he and Laurel hooked up the night before."

"Shut up!"

"Yeah."

"You're lying!"

"No."

"Ugh, how disappointing." Gwen slouched into the couch beside me, where I was putting the wine bottle to my lips. She snatched it away before I could take a swig and put it to her mouth instead. "You know... I always thought you and Danny would actually be cute together. But whenever I brought up the idea you acted like a 2nd grade girl who thinks boys have cooties."

"Most of them do," I grumbled. "Come on, cooties is obv the equivalent of the clap. It's basically a cautionary tale of sorts."

"Ew," Gwen said, shoving my shoulder. "That's a dark way to reflect on childhood."

I typically would have a snappy response but I felt drained. Breathing out a deep sigh I rested my head on her shoulder.

"I can't believe I'm going to say this but... I have really strong feelings for Danny, stronger than I even knew." Gwen wrapped her arms around my shoulders and rubbed my arms up and down soothingly. "You know," I went on, "Casey knew I had feelings for someone else. He knew I wanted Danny before I did."

She pulled away and squeezed her eyes shut in contemplation. "Okay, you're going to hate me for saying this... but I think you should let Danny go and consider getting back with Casey."

I groaned and let Gwen continue as I knew she would. "I mean, let's be honest, Danny could've easily stopped the hook up before it even began and said, 'This isn't right.' And told you the truth about the Laurel girl. But he didn't, and that makes me question his intentions. I mean, how did he explain himself?"

"I didn't want to hear what he had to say, but I do know he hooked up... or made out... or kissed her for a fact."

"And then turned around and did the same with you, right?" Gwen helpfully said.

"Yeah..."

She shook her head. "Uh, this is so hard because you work with him, and you guys _just _resolved your friendship... but I don't think you should even consider pursuing anything with him. He doesn't seem too different from the other guys. Either be single and date, which I know you're tired of, or, I don't know, reconsider Casey, who so far seems to be the only legit guy you've seriously dated."

I didn't want to reconsider Casey, especially since all I could think about was Danny. But he hurt me, and I wasn't sure I wanted to hear him BS around hooking up with Laurel.

_Communication_.

I bit my lip at the word. That had always been our problem. Maybe hearing him out would be a good idea?

"Don't fall into your same pattern, Mindy."

She had a point.

I put my glass of wine down and grabbed my phone. She was right, and I was tired of guys treating me like I was worthless. I was a hot doctor, and I deserved a guy who treated me right. Who knew, maybe my feelings would grow if I got back together with Casey? I bit my lip. The idea of settling for someone left an empty feeling in my chest... but my fear of being alone was greater.

My fingers hestitantly moved across my iPhone before pressing send.

**Casey... Let's talk.**

* * *

It was my first Monday back at the practice since returning from the retreat. I assumed that my Mondays would get better, what with Danny and I becomign friends again and resolving our issues, but that apparently wasn't the case anymore, and this Monday back was no different than the ones before.

It sucked.

I greeted everyone like things were better, and luckily was given a load of work, so used it as an excuse to lock myself in the office. If I needed paperwork I'd call Betsy or Morgan or Tamra and have them get it for me so I wouldn't have to interact with anyone in the office, especially Danny.

As I took the five minutes before my lunch break to stare out of my window overlooking the city, coated in snow, now slushy and dirty from the wear and tear of the day, I briefly wondered if this was how Danny successfully managed to ignore me for months. It wasn't that hard, though it was somewhat lonely. I could probably do the same until I got over him...

A knock at my door interrupted my thoughts. Without thinking I said, "Come in."

To my despair Danny stepped into the office, clicking the door shut softly behind him.

Instantly my heart started racing and dropping and somersaulting as the usual range of dread and joy and envy and sadness overwhelmed me. I only hoped it wasn't obvious.

"Hey," I tried to sound nonchalant, but my voice came out like a whisper and shook.

He wore his white coat with a gray button down that fit him perfectly with a black tie. Even in the simple outfit I felt my mouth go dry, and I had to take a steady breath to try to focus on the fact that I wasn't supposed to be drawn to this man the way I obviously was.

"Hey," he responded, rubbing his hands together. I imagined they were drenched in nervous sweat. The thought resulted in the curl of my lip.

The small smile was motivation to him, and he moved forward to stand in front of my desk. "Look, I know you don't want to talk to me and have been avoiding my calls, b-but if I took anything away from that retreat, it was that we need to talk things out in order to function, a-and I want to function... with you. S-so even if you don't want to hear what I have to say, it's the only way we can resolve, uh, any issues we may have."

I sighed. "Jeez, don't have a panic attack." Though I felt like I was having one internally. "Sit down. Talk."

Eyes pulled together tightly and an eyebrow raised, he surveyed me for a brief moment before cautiously taking a seat. "Okay. That was easier than I thought."

"Well, you're right, and besides, I think I blew everything out of proportion," I forced a smile. "I mean, we hooked up, we didn't get married. It's not that big of a deal. And we worked hard to get our friendship back, so I don't want that ruined because we had a couple of sloppy kisses."

"Sloppy?" He asked.

"I mean, it wasn't that great." Lies.

"It wasn't?" It was!

"Danny... my point is I'm not mad. I just was... shocked that you and Laurel hooked up. But I'm over it."

"Don't you want to hear what happened?"

"I mean, if you want to tell me, sure... but I don't really care. It's none of my business what you, uh... what you do with other women. I'm learning not to be so nosy—that's something I took away from the retreat."

Danny looked confused and rubbed his hands on his jeans. "So... just to be clear. What you think happened between Laurel and me... That doesn't mean anything to you?"

Yes. Of course it did.

I couldn't find it in me to lie to him and say it didn't, but I couldn't tell him it did, either. I needed to push these developing feelings away, and telling him I had them would do nothing but damage. So instead I sat in silence.

"Because," he continued, leaning forward to meet my eyes, which were averted to the side of his cheek. A slow smile was coming onto his face. I couldn't help but notice the sweat forming on his forehead. "I really thought you and I had—"

"Mindy."

Danny and I turned to the door.

It was Casey.

We arranged to meet for lunch yesterday. I wanted to talk to him about getting back together.

Danny turned back to me, confusion on his face again. "What's going on?"

I stood from my seat and grabbed my coat. "Um, just going to talk with Casey for lunch. I should be back in an hour or two. Can we finish this up later?"

He was glued to the seat. He had the palm of his hand flattened on his knee, and turned to look out of the window, his jaw clenched. Finally with a crack of his neck he stood and headed towards the door, not bothering to look back at me. He held his hand out to Casey and shook it. "Hey man. When'd you get back?" Danny asked.

"Couple weeks ago... everything alright?" He asked.

Danny smiled tightly and glanced over his shoulder at me. "Don't worry about finishing this up. If you don't care," he looked up at Casey then to his shoes with a shake of his head, "then I don't either."

When he was gone my insides calmed and the inner turmoil I always experienced when he was near disappeared, and I was just left with Casey.

The empty feeling in my chest returned but I smiled anyway at the man. "Hey," I said quietly.

"Hey. You... you look amazing."

"Thank you," I smoothed down my red jumper to avoid looking him in the eye. "You look good, too."

"Thanks, uh, is everything alright here?" He asked.

I folded one arm over my chest while pushing my glasses up my nose. "No, but yes. It will be, eventually. I'm starving, though. Where'd you want to eat."

While I led him out of the office, he talked about this amazing Haitian restaurant only a few blocks away, but I was distracted. Danny stood at the front desk, retrieving something from Betsy. As he turned to leave, his eyes fell onto my arm, which rested in the crook of Casey's arm, before they fell on me, those damn eyes conveying his hurt and anger.

My heart. My damn heart started racing again.

I forced my eyes back up to Casey and pretended to listen, smiling and nodding when I was supposed to. But it wasn't until we were safely in the elevator, descending to the first floor, that the emptiness returned.

And it was just Casey again.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and PMs! They were incredible to read haha. I love hearing what you all think. This chapter was kind of short comparatively, but it almost matches the word count of the first chapter so you decide what that means. And don't worry, now, this fic is not over yet. I had an interesting conversation with a friend about settling, and that is what motivated this chapter, so blame her if you don't like it! Thanks again, and I'll try to get an update out quickly. Until next chapter :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **HAPPY NEW YEAR (a week later) :D. Thank you all for the reviews! They and you are wonderful. I'm so glad to know you're enjoying the story as much as I love writing it. Onward with the next chapter!

* * *

**Fonder**

**Chapter Nine**

**Tick Tock**

* * *

Mindy's POV

Time is a fickle being. A single second can seemingly last hours, or hours a mere second. It's sneaky. Unpredictable, and how I ended up in my office three hours after everyone else had long gone home.

Two months had passed since Casey and I began seeing each other again. It was like my abrupt departure from Haiti never happened and we just continued where we left off. Just a few weeks after reuniting, we already were spending holidays together. Christmas I volunteered with him at the women's shelter, and on New Year's Eve, we celebrated at Gwen's house with a lot of other couples, either married, engaged, or serious.

"How long have you two been together," a friend of hers, Deborah maybe, had asked.

Casey and I looked at each other awkwardly, before he turned back to her and answered, "Uh, about a year and a half, with a little time off in between."

She raised a curious brow. "Oh. What does 'time off in between' mean, exactly?"

I narrowed my eyes, hating her judgmental tone. "It means that we had some relationship problems and took a break, lady, as if your marriage is perfect. Isn't that your husband over there, flirting with that voluptuous, gorgeous twenty-something?"

She snapped her neck to look over her shoulder quickly before clearing her throat and, slowly, turning back to my smug smile. "That isn't my husband, dear."

"Yeah, I know. But by how fast you turned your head, you may need to consider a break, too, _dear_. So why don't you—"

"Mindy, whoa, relax." Casey looked to Deborah and smiled charmingly in his charming way. "Sorry, we're a bit anxious for midnight."

Deborah nodded and walked away, shooting a sneer my way. I faced Casey with furrowed brows. "I'm not anxious, nowhere close. She was a total bitch!"

"Mindy," he whispered, taking my hand and pulling me into an empty parlor. He sighed and looked down on me, my arms folded over my chest and my gaze averted elsewhere. "Look, I love that you stand up for yourself, and give condescending a-holes a piece of your mind, but it's New Year's Eve. I want us to be able to have a fun night together, actually start reconnecting."

I sighed, not interested in going into depth about our relationship.

"Casey—"

"Listen, I know you were scared before of how fast we were moving, and that's why you left Haiti and left me, but now… I need you to be honest and open with me. Let me know if something is wrong so you won't project whatever's going on inside that head of yours onto some innocent, albeit bitchy, lady."

I smiled and met his eyes. Casey was gorgeous. Tall, handsome, strong, and funny. He had faith, was a true inspiration to so many, and just a good person for the most part.

He was good for me. He made me a better person.

That had become a mantra of sorts for me, whenever I had doubts of getting back with him.

_Casey is good for me. He makes me a better person._

I repeated that to myself several times in my head before stepping closer to him and, on tiptoe, kissing his cheek. "I'm stressed. I'm scared. I don't know what we're doing. But… I want to make this work."

He placed his arms around my waist and dipped his head so our lips met in a kiss.

I felt nothing, but smiled anyway.

"Me too, Min. I want to make this work."

In the distance people counted down. I grabbed his hand to leave but he pulled me back to him and said, "Listen, I want us to bring in the New Year together. Just you and me. Come here, girl." And he held me in his arms, counting down in my ear.

As the partygoers screamed and celebrated, Casey and I shared our first kiss in the new year. It was a good kiss. Nice, and not so long ago I probably could have said it was the best I had ever experienced.

Until Danny kissed me.

Guilt washed over me as thoughts of Danny entered my head as they tended to do at every waking second of the day.

Life without Danny was surprisingly miserable. He was all I thought about. Everything seemed to remind me of him. It was impossible for me to cook anything, not even a grilled cheese sandwich, because it brought back memories of the cold but delicious breakfast Danny made for us, which then led to memories of our passionate hook up. Accomplishing anything at work was foolish. I managed to avoid him for the most part, but for the brief moments when I'd catch a glimpse of him or, God forbid, have to pass him in the hallway, schoolgirl thoughts instantly filled my mind as my heart did its typical flips and flops. Time managed to do its stupid trick in those moments when we'd walk by each other and slow down, giving me all the time to think all the trivial thoughts in the world like:

_Okay, look down at your folder like there isn't a People magazine in it._

_Pretend like you didn't see him, and stop looking up to see if he's looking at you._

_Holy shit, he totally was looking at you! Or at something behind me. I couldn't tell because I wasn't looking at him!_

_Wait, is my hair okay? Do I look good? I should've worn the yellow top. It makes my boobs look massive._

And sex with Casey, something that once had been glorious, now just filled me with guilt since Danny was all I could think about during all of our intimate moments. He was who I wanted holding and touching me, but even so, I wanted to find a way to love Casey.

But nothing seemed to take my mind off Danny. It felt like the more distance I tried to put between us, the more consumed my mind and heart became with the man.

I swallowed and pulled away from the New Year's kiss to smile at my boyfriend, but I had no words, or was afraid to speak in fear that the truth would tumble out, maybe. I wasn't sure, so instead pulled Casey's mouth back to mine in an emotionless kiss that I could only hope would gain passion over time.

Lots of people eventually fell in love with their significant other.

Silently, I made that my resolution:

Do whatever you have to do to fall back in love with Casey. And it was what I had adamantly been trying to do to, from what I felt, no avail.

I shook my head from the memory as my phone buzzed on my desk. So caught up in my mind, I hadn't realized that an additional thirty minutes passed.

Groaning, I looked down at my phone. It was a text message from Casey

**Workin late again?**

I bit my lip. I forgot to call him. He had wanted to go out.

**Sorry!** I responded, **Why don't I stay at your place tonight?**

I put my phone in my coat pocket and gathered my papers. My patient Erika Gilbert had a freak-out and begged me to see her right before we closed, leaving me to process some papers now. I didn't mind, though. Actually wasn't surprised at all. New mothers had a tendency to freak out about everything, whether it's regarding the smallest tap on their infant's head or the first time she had sex since giving birth. I had given her a green light to have sex the week before, and she was afraid something went wrong. Of course nothing did.

Purse over my shoulder, I realized my glasses were nowhere to be found. After rummaging through my purse, desk drawer, and feeling my boobs up to be sure it hadn't fallen into my bra because that happens, I turned my office lights off and locked the door before heading to the only other place they could be, the exam room where Erika's appointment had been.

The office was dark. A little afraid, I shuffled into the exam room, quickly switching the lights on and shutting the door behind me. My glasses were right where I left them next to the exam table. I dropped my purse and walked over, sliding my glasses onto my face and taking a seat on the table. I took in a deep breath then released it, laying back on the white exam table paper. It was kind of uncomfortable, but I surprisingly didn't mind. It was a nice escape, gave me an opportunity to get myself together before seeing Casey.

_I heard the door slightly creak open._

The light switch flicked, and it was dark.

I shot up and yelled, "HEY!"

The door opened and the lights were back on.

"Sorry, didn't know… uh…"

Danny's words trailed off as he stepped into the room. I straightened where I sat and crossed my ankles. Fuck, what was he doing here? I could've sworn I was alone.

"Hey," I breathed, my heart doing the usual. I thought after so long it would stop racing whenever the man was around me, but that just wasn't the case.

"Hey," he responded.

I sat up straighter.

"Uh, sorry about the light switch. I didn't know anyone else was here—was about to lock up until I saw this light on, actually."

I nodded vigorously. "Oh, yeah, totally understandable."

"Okay, good."

"Yeah."

An awkward silence fell between us. I looked everywhere else but at him, which proved to be a worse idea than just meeting his eyes because, at that moment, I had a horrible, horrible revelation.

This was the same exam room where Danny was my gynecologist for five minutes.

Holy shit.

My breathing started coming in quicker, and I snapped my eyes abruptly to Danny's to see he was already staring at me.

Memories of the sexually charged exam where Danny had to run out after I successfully channeled Beyonce Pad Thai, and of all the progress we had made since then just to return to barely being friends again, made me even more stressed out than I already felt whenever he was around.

"Uh, why are you still here? It's pretty late."

Danny broke the silence. He leaned against the wall, slowly moving his hands from his side to his pockets in one smooth, languid motion. How was he capable of being so nonchalant with me, as if we always had casual conversations, or as if we hadn't spoken in months, or as if we hadn't hooked up in the mountains, or as if he hadn't practically felt me up in the very room we were in now? It was unsettling and, damn it, it pissed me off that he could be so carefree around nme when I was always such a mess around him!

Trying not to let how effected I was by his presence, I said, "Late appointment," then, trying to match his casual tone, stood, brushed invisible lent from my skirt and continued, "I have to get going. Have a good night." And with that, I walked forward, trying my hardest to be the confident woman that I wasn't whenever he was around as of late, and placed my hand on the doorknob, refusing to make eye contact with the man.

As I began to twist the knob, Danny put his hand on my arm, and everything in the world ceased to exist.

My eyes involuntarily met his, and I knew then that the casual demeanor he attempted to convey was just a façade.

Oh no.

"Stop..." he said quietly.

I couldn't break eye contact. If I could, I'd just storm out and not even bother entertaining whatever conversation Danny wanted to have. I was in a relationship again, and I'd be treading in dangerous waters if I continued this conversation.

But I couldn't resist.

"S-stop what?" I stammered.

"Min, you've gotta stop avoiding me."

My lips flapped but no words came out.

"I'm not a moron, Mindy. You're avoiding me, and I know exactly why you're doing it."

My eyes widened, and I said the only thing that apparently could come from my mouth, "Huh?"

He sighed and rubbed his hands down his jeans. I held back a smile—I loved his sweaty hands. They always gave him away. Quickly, though, I remembered that I wasn't supposed to be smiling. Now was not the time to find this man's sweaty palms endearing.

"Don't you see it?" He asked, eyes narrowed. "You're doing _exactly_ what I did to you after you got back from Haiti. Avoiding you is what caused the rift between us. I-it's why you were so mad at me. And it's why Shulman made us go to Gatlinburg."

"Danny, I-I don't know what you're talking about." I stepped away from him to give myself space. There was no way I could think standing that close to him. With a clearer head, I loudly said what was on my mind, "I stopped talking to you because you hooked up with Laurel the night before we did. It was disrespectful, and I don't really want to associate with guys who use me!"

He stepped forward, his voice raising. "Mindy, I didn't fucking use you! You didn't let me explain what—"

"Because I don't want to hear your bullshit, especially now that I'm back with Casey! It just doesn't matter to me anymore."

"If it doesn't matter," he shouted back, "then why are you avoiding me?"

I opened my mouth but, again, speechless.

Another step. He was in front of me, in my space. My mind was getting more and more unclear the closer he got. My heart rate increasing, he took my hands and forced me to look in his eyes simply by looking into mine. "You're avoiding me for the same reason I avoided you."

Holy fuck… what was he saying?

"Everything you've been feeling and thinking, I felt—_feel_—the same way. That's really why I avoided you. All that crap about trying to find a routine after Christina was stupid, and you know it. The truth is I feel the same way you do."

He felt the same way.

My stomach dropped and pure bliss filled my chest, because Danny was finding a way to say he had feelings for me without actually saying it.

"What am I feeling and thinking, Danny?" I whispered.

He froze, and I loved seeing how expressive his eyes were with me now. There was a time when I could stare at him all day, and the only emotion I would pick up was discontent or boredom.

But now I saw his nervousness, his passion and desire and lust, and his fear.

I had to hear him say it, though. He had to say it out loud.

"Mindy…"

He breathed in while I held my breath.

He breathed out, eyes tightly closed, and finally said, "Fuck. Mindy I want you. A-and I want to be with you. It's why Christina left me. It's why I was so upset when you got back from Haiti early. It's why I ignored you. I gave myself a fucking _year_ to get over you, and then you just suddenly came back and were always here, and even when I ignored you, you were all I thought about and I just didn't have enough time to get over you. Shit, who am I kidding, I doubt a year would've even done the trick. I want you, and that damn therapy actually helped, I guess, 'cause I had to tell you... And you've been avoiding me because that's how you feel too."

Whoa.

I surely wasn't expecting all of that.

Again, I was speechless. What was this man doing to me?

"Right, Min? You feel the same way, too, don't you?" He asked. He raised his hand so his palm gently rested against my cheek, his fingertips tickling the back of my ear.

"Danny…"

"It is, isn't it?" he said, a bit of panic tinging his voice. "I mean, that morning in Gatlinburg, it was incredible."

I smiled then bit my lip and looked down. Danny moved his hand and took a step away from me. I suddenly felt cold without his body near me. "Wait. You tryna say you don't feel the same way?"

I squeezed my eyes closed. I wanted to explain that I didn't want to risk getting hurt by him again, and that I was afraid of being the old lady who lived in a shoe, alone and creepy, and that I was with someone who loved me, and wouldn't hurt me, and I was content, and I guess that was going to be enough for me. Even though all I wanted was to be with Danny... I couldn't. It was too big of a risk, and at some point in what I could describe as my mundane life, I stopped taking those.

But instead of expressing everything I felt, I said the only thing that could come out of my mouth, "Casey."

Danny let out a breath that sounded like a hiss.

"Wow, okay. I'm a fucking moron."

"Danny—"

"No, just... don't. I've fucking embarrassed myself enough. I..." He placed both hands on top of his head, his lips pulled tight into a thin line.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"No, don't be. That's how you feel. I just, whatever. I'm just gonna... Bye." He abruptly turned and left the room. I watched as he walked down the dark hallway and into his office, slamming the door behind him. I wanted to run after him. Wanted to apologize and confess that I did feel the same way, that he was right about everything, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Instead, I just sighed and stared at my shoes, willing the tears that desperately wanted to leak to stay put and maybe return when I was alone in my apartment with a bottle or three of wine.

I felt my phone buzz in my pocket.

I didn't have to look to know that it was Casey.

Silently I repeated my mantra.

_Casey is good for me. He makes me a better person. __Casey is good for me. He makes me a better person._

But the mantra wasn't helping; it didn't seem to make sense now that I knew Danny had feelings for me.

Overwhelmed by guilt, and sadness, and hurt, and anger, and most blindingly, my own selfishness, I sat back down on the exam table.

And I let the tears fall.

* * *

**A/N: Oh hey angst. That was Chapter 9! I know it's hard reading all of this Mindy/Danny drama, but bear with me folks. It'll get better soon (maybe...). Anyway! Hope you enjoyed. I'll be back with an update soon. Thanks for all of the support and reviews! Any feedback would be appreciated, per usual. Until next chapter :)**


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